FIFA Meetings: The path for the U.S. to host the 2026 World Cup just got shorter
Three months have reportedly been given for a better bid to step forward
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1 min read
FIFA's council on Tuesday debated a proposal by the United States, Mexico and Canada soccer federations to speed up the bidding process for the 2026 World Cup, and rival bids have three months to present their bids, according to ESPNFC. The U.S., Mexico and Canada announced their bid last month and are viewed as the favorite to land the 2026 cup, which would be the first held in North American soil since 1994.
The report says despite concerns regarding transparency and the history of corruption in FIFA, the council agreed to speed up the process, which could see the bid awarded before the 2018 World Cup in Russia instead of the original 2020 date, if no better bids come forward.
"This is a victory for us," U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati said, per ESPNFC. "We got what we wanted most. An open process is a good thing and we're very confident that our bid will be a high quality one."
What this basically does is potentially cut the bidding process time, with a result potentially coming two years before originally planned. The general feeling is that the more time the better considering the 2026 World Cup will be the first to feature 48 teams after last year's expansion was announced.
The U.S. has long been looked at the favorite to land it along with its partners to the North and South, and Tuesday's decision means we may get the answer to who hosts much sooner than we thought.
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