#1 — SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles): ~$5.5 billion
And here it is, alone at the top: SoFi Stadium, in Inglewood, California. At a cost of about $5.5 billion, it isn't just the most expensive at the World Cup — it's the most expensive stadium ever built in human history, costing nearly three times more than the second-place finisher.
And the most impressive part: it was financed almost entirely by a single billionaire, Stan Kroenke (owner of the Los Angeles Rams and also Arsenal), with no bill for taxpayers. The money bought wonders: a translucent ETFE roof that creates a hybrid open-closed environment, the biggest screen in sports (the Infinity Screen, longer than the field itself), and a roof that projects videos to airplane passengers landing at LA's airport. It will host 8 World Cup games, including the U.S. opener and a quarterfinal.
For the Brazilian fan, a yardstick: SoFi alone cost more than all 12 stadiums of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, combined. That's the size of the distance separating #1 from everything else. The 2026 World Cup has many luxury venues — but only one true cathedral.
