Hey FIFA, did you see that?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Hey FIFA, did you see that?

The biggest sporting event in the world is coming to North America in 2026 and the World Cup still needs to narrow its list of venues.

Nashville is one of 17 United States cities that are part of the bid, a list that is expected to be narrowed to 10 sometime in 2020 or 2021.

The NFL Draft in Nashville just drew over 600,000 to an enormous three-day party. I ran into some people from France in the league’s store at Second Avenue and Broadway.

Tonight, over 200,000 @NFL fans partied together in Nashville. ???????? pic.twitter.com/CAM6erlw4u

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) April 26, 2019

That’s nothing compared to the international crowd World Cup games would bring to Music City.

Here are the other 16 cities vying to be the hosts for matches.

Los Angeles, Rose Bowl

New York, MetLife Stadium (NJ)

Washington, FedEx Field

Dallas/Fort Worth, AT&T Stadium

Kansas City, Arrowhead Stadium

Denver, Broncos Stadium at Mile High

Houston, NRG Stadium

Baltimore, M&T Bank Stadium

Atlanta, Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Philadelphia, Lincoln Financial Field

Seattle, Century Link Field

San Francisco Bay Area, Levi Stadium

Boston, Gillett Stadium

Cincinnati, Paul Brown Stadium

Miami, Hard Rock Stadium

Orlando, Camping World Stadium

Atlanta has been put forth as a semifinal host, which made me fear Nashville would be passed over because FIFA might not want two nearby Southeastern cities. But Atlanta is not written in stone.

And in June of 2018, I wrote: “A U.S. Soccer spokesperson told me that while ‘the venue is an important part, what a city is able to deliver is probably more important now than it has been in the past.’ The bid emphasized not just event day, but the time leading up to and in between games.”

That’s where the 600,000 people who participated in the three-day NFL draft come into play.

It demonstrated the city’s capacity for gigantic scale events.

Who’s doing better?

Hey FIFA, did you see that?