USA's bid to host 2026 World Cup gets boost as FIFA rules two continents out
The FIFA Council has ruled that countries from Europe and Asia will be barred from bidding to host the 2026 World Cup. That is a big boost to the United States' potential bid to host the tournament as it rules out many of their top would-be competitors.
FIFA's reasoning for the decision is that they want to move the tournament around and the 2018 World Cup is in Russia (Europe), while the 2022 World Cup is in Qatar (Asia). They don't want two of three World Cups on the same continent, so Europe and Asia are out.
U.S. Soccer hasn't committed to bidding for the 2026 World Cup yet. Federation president Sunil Gulati has said in the past that they will wait to see the rules and regulations governing the bid process before they make any decisions after the 2022 World Cup bid that was clouded by alleged corruption. But most everyone expects the U.S. to bid on 2026, and having Europe and Asia out of the way does clear the path to some degree.
"That has changed the landscape [of the 2026 contest] a little bit," said Gulati, who also serves on the FIFA Council.
Europe has several countries that are capable of hosting a World Cup and had they been cleared to bid, it's possible that England, Spain and several others could have entered the running. That would have made things difficult on any competing bids.
China was a major threat to bid as well. The country has made the sport a major focus in recent years, is trying to host nearly every major sporting event possible and has never hosted a World Cup. Between that and the appeal of getting into a market of over 1 billion people, China would have had a strong bid, but now they won't get to.
The U.S. could face challenges in bids from Africa or South America, but no country on either continent has committed to a bid yet. Australia, which tried for the 2022 tournament, could mount a bid, but FIFA would have to decide whether they count that as an Asian bid or not. The country is in the Oceania region, but is part of the Asian confederation, a switch they made a decade ago.
The Americans' strongest challengers could come from their own confederation. Mexico and Canada have both expressed interest in bidding. As for whether either, or even both, would be welcomed for a joint-bid with the United States, Gulati didn't sound overly enthused.
"We have great relationships with Canada and Mexico," said Gulati.
"We also have a country with 320 million people that has hosted a World Cup and with a lot of terrific stadiums and great infrastructure."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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