U.S., Mexico and Canada wind bid to host 2026 World Cup
The US who are not participating in the 2018 Russia World Cup, pulled off the historic victory as more than 200 national soccer federations cast their ballots to cap FIFA's annual Congress in Russia on Wednesday.
The three-nation bid captured 134 votes with Morocco earning 65 from the panel.
This is an incredible, and incredibly important, moment for soccer in North America and beyond, said Carlos Cordeiro, the president of U.S. Soccer.
The 2026 tournament will feature an expanded field of 48 teams -- as opposed to recent editions having 32 -- and will mark the first time in FIFA's history that a three-nation bid has been awarded the showpiece event.
The joint bid's plans call for 60 of the 80 games to be played in the United States -- including all matches from the quarterfinals onward -- while Canada and Mexico host 10 apiece. The final is expected to be played at MetLife Stadium, just outside New York.
The tournament will be the first World Cup in the United States since 1994.
Bringing the World Cup to North America would produce staggering revenues of $14 billion, the bid predicted, and could mean as much as $50 million more in distributions to each member nation.
Morocco was always the outsider to win but any chances of success were hit hard by FIFA's evaluation report, published on June 1, which heavily favored the United Bid. The United States, Canada and Mexico scored 402 out of a possible 500, while Morocco received only 275, largely due to lack of infrastructure, and factored in Moroccan officials' admission that almost $16 billion was required for the necessary development across the country.
The same FIFA report also confirmed Morocco did not disclose its anti-LGBT laws when the respective campaigns had their human rights policies evaluated.
Edited from ESPN
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