United bid wins the hosting rights for 2026 World Cup
USA, Canada and Mexico will host the 2026 World Cup. That was the result after the vote at today’s FIFA Congress that secured the ‘United bid’ 67% of the votes against Morocco.
This morning, at the 68th FIFA Congress, the 203 FIFA members eligible to vote had to decide who will host the 2026 World Cup. There were only two bids to choose from; the combined bid from the United States, Mexico and Canada and the bid from Morocco.
The detailed election results show that the United bid defeated Morocco by a vote of 134-65; counting on the support from the Americas, Europe and Asia, plus few African countries.
The US has thus secured the country the opportunity to host the tournament for the first time since 1994; while Mexico hosted it in 1970 and 1986, and Canada has never hosted a FIFA World Cup.
The matches will be played all over the three different countries. The vast majority of them will take place in the US, including the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, but a smaller number of matches will be equally divided between Canada and Mexico.
According to the New York Times, the American Federation spent more than $6 million in order to ensure the hosting rights of the 2026 World Cup to North America.
The United bid received support from the governments of the three countries and in particular from the US president Donald Trump that, in a recent speech, called for the support of the US, Mexico and Canada’s joint bid from all the African countries.
Donald Trump has comment on Twitter regarding the victory “The U.S., together with Mexico and Canada, just got the World Cup. Congratulations - a great deal of hard work!”