Economy Talk

Does hosting a World Cup actually make a country richer?

With the World Cup kicking off this week across the US, Canada and Mexico, I've been wondering about the economics. Every host promises a boom: tourism, jobs, infrastructure. But the research I've read over the years is pretty mixed. Short-term spending in host cities, yes. Long-term growth, much harder to find.

The 2026 one is a bit different because most stadiums already exist, so it's not like building eight new ones from scratch. That should help the maths.

Interested in what people from past host countries think. Did it feel worth it locally?