The United States, Canada and Mexico are set to host the 2026 World Cup finals, the FIFA Congress decided in Moscow on Wednesday.
In the decision that precedes the World Cup, which begins Thursday, the joint US competition received 134 votes, while the other candidate, Morocco, received 65 votes. The end result is not surprising, as Morocco scored 2.7 points in the initial assessment, which focused on key areas, including stadiums and accommodation, while Canada, the United States and Mexico got 4 points.
Delegates may have been overwhelmed by the fact that Americans promise $14.3 billion in revenue, nearly twice as much as North Africans are bidding for a fifth time.
Mexico can host the World Cup finals for the third time (1970, 1986) and the United States (1994) for the second time, while Canada will host the World Cup matches for the first time.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the second to be hosted by several countries: in 2002, it was hosted by the Republic of Korea and Japan.
There will already be 48 national teams in the US World Cup, so instead of the current 64, there will be 80 matches. 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 ten confrontations in each of them. The opening match will be held in the three countries. Dallas, Los Angeles and New York are competing for the finals.
The FIFA World Cup stadiums so far and host future tournaments
1930: Uruguay
1934: Italy
1938: France
1950: Brazil
1954: Switzerland
1958: Sweden
1962: Chile
1966: Anglia
1970: Mexico
1974: FRG
1978: Argentina
1982: Spain
1986: Mexico
1990: Italy
1994: United States
1998: France
2002: Republic of Korea and Japan
2006: Germany
2010: Republic of South Africa
2014: Brazil
2018: Russia
2022: Qatar
2026: United States, Canada and Mexico
