US cities make pitch for 2026 World Cup

After being slowed by the pandemic, the race among 17 U.S. cities to land a spot hosting the 2026 World Cup is back on.

Two FIFA inspectors were in Atlanta Friday to get a look at 72,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of a record-setting Major League Soccer team and centerpiece of the city’s bid. FIFA vice president Victor Montagliani, who also leads regional governing body CONCACAF, joked that Atlanta is now “a football city, as in the real football that is played globally.”

Atlanta is counting on its retractable-roof stadium, which opened in 2017, and history of staging everything from the Summer Olympics to the Super Bowl to help it land what is arguably the biggest worldwide spectacle of them all. Montagliani and Colin Smith, FIFA’s chief tournament and events officer, already visited Boston and Nashville. Over the next week, they’re planning stops in Orlando, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, New York City,

Philadelphia and Miami.

In the next two months, FIFA will compete its site visits to the remaining U.S. finalists: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Kansas City, Houston, Dallas and Cincinnati.

Brazilian soccer great Pele “took a little step back” in his recovery from surgery to remove a tumor from his colon, his daughter Kely Nascimento said, but he is “recovering well” at a Sao Paulo hospital. Golf: K.J. Choi closed eagle-birdie-birdie for a 7-under 63 and share of the first-round lead with Darren Clarke in the PGA Tour Champions’ Stanford International.

NFL: The Saints have decided to continue practicing at TCU next week in preparation for their Week 3 game at New England before returning to their New Orleans-area headquarters in Week 4. The Saints have been displaced to the Dallas area since Aug. 28, when they flew on hastily arranged charter flights as Hurricane Ida approached Louisiana’s coast.