It was announced at the FIFA Congress in Moscow, Wednesday, that the CONCACAF trio, formed by the United States, Canada and Mexico, will host the 2026 World Cup. This will be the first tournament organized jointly by three countries.
| One of the potential venues for the 2026 World Cup Final: MetLife Stadium (Image: Twitter) |
The venue for the 48-team tournament was decided the day before the World Cup began in Russia by the FIFA Congress, with all 211 member states having one vote. In the end, 199 people voted, the joint US ballot received 134 votes, and Morocco received 65 votes. The Hungarian Federation also voted on the joint US tender – The full list can be found here.
The United States hosted the FIFA World Cup in 1994, while Mexico hosted the World Cup in 1970 and 1986, while Morocco, which is once again behind, has competed four times (1994, 1998, 2006, 2010) but has never won .
According to the North American nomination, there will be matches in 16 stadiums in 16 cities (ten of which are in the US). Among the venues are the Aztec Stadium in Mexico, which has already hosted two World Cup finals, or the Rose Bowl near Los Angeles, which played a major role in international football in 1994.
It could be the “most successful World Cup ever”, Carlos Cordero, the first man in the US Soccer Federation, said on behalf of the three American nations that competed earlier, with record profits of $11 billion.
The 2026 World Cup may be the longest tournament to date, with 80 matches played in about 34 days. The 48 teams will be divided into 16 groups and 32 teams will advance to the relegation stage.
It is scheduled to host 60 meetings in three cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico with 10 clashes alike. The opening match will be held in the three countries. Dallas, Los Angeles and New York are competing for the finals.
In previous world championships, it was customary for the host country to be an automatic participant in the tournament. For the 2026 World Cup, FIFA will later decide whether participants from Canada, the United States and Mexico will be eligible to participate in the event.
The moment our unified dream became a reality!pic.twitter.com/rCTiTcxGXj
– United 2026 (@ united2026) June 13, 2018
