2026 World Cup bid vote a ‘watershed moment’

Canada, the U.S. and Mexico will make one last pitch today at the FIFA Congress in Moscow for their joint 2026 World Cup bid.

It is limited to 15 minutes, with bidding rival Morocco to follow at the Moscow Expocentre.

More than 200 FIFA member associations will then cast their ballot, deciding who gets to hold soccer’s biggest showcase.

“It’s a watershed moment for our country and for our sport,” said Peter Montopoli, general secretary of the Canadian Soccer Association and Canada’s bid director. “It’s not only about our sport and sports, it’s building a nation, it’s a nation-builder. “It’s a game-changer.” It would likely open the door to Canada finally returning to the men’s world stage — a widely expected scenario as co-host that has yet to be officially confirmed. But with the tournament expanding from 32 to 48 teams in 2026, tripling the hosts would not cause as many ripples.

Under the current blueprint, the U.S. would host the lion’s share of games with 60, compared to 10 each for Canada (with Edmonton, Montreal and Toronto serving as host cities) and Mexico.

But that could change after today’s vote when FIFA would take over the tournament planning. There is a movement to stage games in all three countries on the tournament’s opening day, should the so-called United bid carry the day.