Short-Term Rental Demand Is Way Up for the 2026 World Cup

A lot of the coverage of next summer’s World Cup — set to take place in venues across the U.S., Canada and Mexico — has understandably focused on the ticket prices, which started high and are getting even higher. And for residents of the continent’s host cities, whether that city is Atlanta, Guadalajara or Toronto, whether or not to buy tickets for a local match is a pressing question. But for soccer fans looking to travel, there’s another big question: where to stay?

AirDNA, a company that tracks demand for short-term rental properties around the world, recently released a look at how demand at Airbnb and Vrbo has changed for host cities in 2026 compared to the same markets in 2025. The short version: demand is up almost everywhere, sometimes by a significant amount. Demand for short-term rentals around two late-June matches in Guadalajara, for instance, are both up over 2000% — yes, 2000% — year over year.

Some of that increase may be due to Guadalajara’s peak tourist season being during the colder months, when the weather there makes for a welcome break from temperatures further north. While not as pronounced, both Monterrey and Mexico City are also seeing significant increases in demand for next summer relative to this summer.

As of this writing, the only metropolitan area covered in AirDNA’s analysis where demand is down year over year is Oakland, with several matchdays showing a small decline in interest. That may be somewhat misleading, however, as the other two components of the San Francisco Bay Area — San Francisco and San Jose — are showing increased demand during the same period.

How Are Hotels Preparing for the 2026 World Cup?

An expanded tournament makes things more complicated

An uptick in demand for short-term rentals is not the only factor at play when planning for World Cup-related bookings. As the industry group Rent Responsibly pointed out earlier this fall, a number of municipalities are modifying their regulations surrounding short-term rentals to make sure there are enough rooms available to meet demand. Finding the right balance between existing hotels and short-term rental properties to meet a sudden influx of demand is challenging regardless of the circumstances; next summer’s matches are an especially high-profile example of that.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…