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Beating rival Morocco for the highest bid in hosting the grand Football Event, Canada, USA and Mexico united forces for the highest bid for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The officials from the soccer federation from the three North American countries teamed up in an unprecedented effort to host the most watched sporting event. After a number of meetings and planning, the bidding in Moscow was won over when voters were enticed by the promises of full attendance for a record-crowd, high revenue and perhaps exigently because of a groundbreaking $11-billion in profit for FIFA.
The world’s soccer governing body awarded the hosting rights to the joint bidders.
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What Made the North American Countries Win the Bid?
The North American bidders outnumbered their only opponent Morocco by 69 votes, with 134 votes in their favour and Morocco receiving only 65 votes.
The delegates finally had a reason to celebrate after the hard work and frenzied few weeks of lobbying.
An overwhelmed Carlos Corderio, President of US Soccer, made a short speech thanking FIFA’s members for “the incredible privilege” and acknowledging “Football today is the only Victor”.
The US-led bid seemingly surpassed their North African rivals in technical aspects.
A FIFA evaluation task force reached this conclusion as the former has 23 stadiums ready or under construction.
The North American bidders overshadowed Morocco with their technical superiority, hogging all the limelight.
FIFA General Secretary, Fatima Samoura’s note came to the voters minutes before the ballot.
The Big Surprises
When the results of the first public voting for the bid flashed on the screen, there were a few surprises, the biggest from the Russian vote, who were expected to vote for Morocco, but instead voted for the North American front, along with a number of African countries who swapped sides and voted against Morocco.
With the Russian hosts of 2018 and Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup, the World Soccer Federation had faced enough humiliation after foul play charges and thus decided on a more public voting system to support transparency.
In a first, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will see a 48-team format, up from the present 32 teams.
Out of a total of 80 matches, as many as 60 will be played at the US stadiums, while Canada and Mexico would share an equal of 10 matches each.
The finals are expected to be held at the MetLife Stadium in the New York Suburb of East Rutherford, N.J.
The event was last hosted on North American soil in 1994 when USA hosted it.
Mexico hosted the Men’s World Cup 1970 and 1986, while Canada would be hosting the event for the first time in 2026.
As the US failed to qualify for the Men’s World Cup 2018, the bidding victory came as a relief for the world power, sparing it the shame of a second loss.
The American Federation spent a whopping sum of $6-million from the combined budget of $8-million on meetings, flight tickets and relocating the base to London, to influence the Asian, African, and European voters.
The smiles on the delegates’ faces made their planning of seven years bear fruit and a promise of an enormous gala event in 2026.
