There was a press conference held on Monday to announce the joint bid between the United States Soccer Federation, Canada Soccer, and Mexican Soccer is official. Sunil Gulati spoke on the process moving forward, and stated that not every detail is ironed out yet. This is exciting news for any North American soccer fan, and will be great for the development of The Beautiful Game in the three countries involved.
It's official! USA, Canada and Mexico declare intention to submit unified bid to host 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Details: https://t.co/Ua6lVOMXl6 pic.twitter.com/ye10ll5ypR
— U.S. Men's National Soccer Team (@USMNT) April 10, 2017
World Cup 2026: Canada, the USA, and Mexico Make Bid Official
There have been rumblings about the bid for quite some time, so it comes as no surprise to anyone that has been paying even the slightest amount of attention. The bid will also be the first time that three separate countries have jointly hosted a World Cup, if they are to be approved in their attempt to bring the world’s biggest tournament to North America.
“This is a milestone day for U.S. Soccer and for CONCACAF,” Gulati said. “We gave careful consideration to the prospect of bidding for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and ultimately feel strongly this is the right thing for our region and for our sport. Along with our partners from the Canadian Soccer Association and the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol, we are confident that we will submit an exemplary bid worthy of bringing the FIFA World Cup back to North America. The United States, Mexico and Canada have individually demonstrated their exceptional abilities to host world-class events. When our nations come together as one, as we will for 2026, there is no question the United States, Mexico and Canada will deliver an experience that will celebrate the game and serve players, supporters and partners alike.”
This is also not the first time that the three countries have hosted a World Cup of their own. Canada just recently hosted the Women’s World Cup, and both Mexico and the United States have hosted the Men’s World Cup before. The three of them also have experience hosting Youth World Cups as well, making the bid even stronger with that amount of hosting experience.
This is a historic bid, and the chances of it happening look very good at this point. When you take into account that FIFA has adopted an expansion to a 48-team World Cup, the experience and infrastructure these three nations have at their disposal will play a pivotal role in bringing the World Cup back to North America.
