US, Mexico and Canada to host 2026 tournament

THE 2026 World Cup will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada after Fifa’s congress voted overwhelmingly yesterday to back the trination joint bid for the tournament and leave Morocco to miss out for the fifth time.

The North American bid collected 134 votes to the 65 for Morocco. One congress member voted for neither bid.

The 2026 event will be the first expanded tournament featuring 48 teams, up from the current 32-team tournament, which begins in Russia today.

Both bids were given a last chance to make their case with 15-minute presentations in front of congress, at the Moscow Expocentre.

The North Americans pledged their tournament would generate an $11-billion (R145-billion) profit, while Morocco, which has now failed in five bids to host a World Cup, said theirs would make $5-billion (R66-billion).

Although it will be the first tournament to be hosted by three nations, the vast majority of games will be held in the Unites States.

Of the 80 games, 10 matches will be held in Canada, 10 in Mexico and 60 in the US with the final played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, home to the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets.

“Thank you for entrusting us with the privilege of hosting the Fifa World Cup in 2026,” US Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordiero said. “Football today is the only winner.” The US hosted the World Cup previously in 1994 while Mexico hosted it in 1970 and 1986.

Canada has never hosted a men’s World Cup but held the women’s tournament in 2015.

“We are very excited and humbled that the Fifa member associations have entrusted the CONCACAF region with the honour of hosting the 2026 World Cup in its new extended format,” CONCACAF said.

“Each of the united bid’s 23 proposed stadiums are fully built, occupied, and operational, ensuring long-term use following the 2026 World Cup.”

Decio de Maria, president of Mexico Football Federation and co-chair of the united bid, said: “We are grateful for the chance to bring to life Fifa’s new vision for the future of football.

“We will use this platform to unite the world around football and help create a new and sustainable blueprint for the future of Fifa World Cups.”

The last time Fifa voted on World Cup hosting rights was in 2010 with the decision resting with the old executive committee and it chose Russia to host the 2018 tournament and Qatar for 2022.

Several members of that committee were later banned from the sport after they were caught up in the corruption scandal that engulfed world football’s governing body in 2015. – Reuters