The opening match between Mexico and South Africa will be played at Mexico City Stadium, better known as the Azteca. Its capacity has increased by 3,058 seats, making it the competition’s largest venue.
That revision gives the opener added weight beyond the fixture itself. Mexico City will host the tournament’s first crowd, while the stadium’s status as the biggest ground in use places it at the centre of the opening narrative.
The largest individual increase comes at BC Place in Vancouver, where capacity has risen by 3,676. The adjustment highlights how seating plans can change significantly even after venues have been selected.
New York New Jersey Stadium, which will host the final, has gained 2,087 seats. It now sits behind Mexico City Stadium in the revised capacity list, but its importance remains fixed by the tournament’s closing fixture.
The changes are not universally upward. San Francisco Bay Area Stadium has been reduced by 564 seats to 68,827, while Toronto Stadium is down by 1,279 to 43,036.
Those reductions are relatively small within the wider tournament picture, but they underline that the published figures reflect operational decisions rather than simple expansion.
With 11 stadiums in the United States and the remaining grounds split between Mexico and Canada, capacity will influence the atmosphere across a month-long competition. England’s meeting with Croatia at Dallas Stadium is listed for 70,649 supporters, another sizeable setting for a major group-stage fixture.
Attention now turns to the opening Friday, when Mexico and South Africa will provide the first test of the revised arrangements. The final verdict on the stadium changes will come when the tournament’s biggest crowds arrive.