United 2026 FIFA World Cup bid

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United 2026, also known as the North American 2026 bid, was a successful joint bid led by the United States Soccer Federation, together with the Canadian Soccer Association and the Mexican Football Federation, to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

2026 FIFA World Cup bid
United 2026
Canada–United States–Mexico 2026
Tournament details
Host countriesCanada
Mexico
United States
Venue16 (selected from a proposal of 23) (in 16 host cities)
← 2022
2030 →

While the soccer federations of Canada, Mexico, and the United States had individually announced plans to field a bid for the 2026 World Cup, the concept of a joint bid among the three North American countries was first proposed in 2016. The joint bid was officially unveiled on April 10, 2017, under which the tournament would be held at venues in all three countries. A shortlist of 23 candidate cities were named in the official bid, with 17 in the U.S., 3 in Canada, and 3 in Mexico. The final list includes eleven U.S. cities that will join two Canadian cities and three Mexican cities, to form the roster of 16 cities that will host the matches of the World Cup. Although a joint bid, the majority of the matches will be held in the United States. The initial bid recommended that the United States would host 60 of the 80 matches. After the tournament format was modified in March 2023, the match allocation now stands as follows: of the 104 matches, Canada will host 13 matches, Mexico will host 13 matches, and the United States will host 78 matches, including all matches from the Quarter-finals onward.

On June 13, 2018, at the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow, Russia, the United bid was selected by 134 votes to Morocco's 65. Upon this selection, Canada will become the fifth country to host both the men's and women's World Cup, joining Sweden, the United States, Germany, and France. Mexico will become the first country to host three men's World Cups, and the United States will become the first country to host both the men's and women's World Cup twice each. This will be the first World Cup to be hosted in three countries, as well as the first since 2002 and the second overall to be held in multiple countries.

Background

The three football federations of Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. announced interest in submitting a bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup years before the federations intended to unify their efforts.

In July 2012, Canadian Soccer Association president Victor Montagliani confirmed plans for a Canadian bid, saying: "We have verbally told FIFA that when the bid process begins for the next available World Cup, which would be the 2026 World Cup, that the CSA will be one of the countries putting in a formal proposal". At the time the bid was announced, Canada had hosted the men's 1987 Under-16 World Championship and the U-20 World Cups for both men and women; the country has since hosted the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2015. In October 2013, Montagliani confirmed Canada's intention to bid for the 2026 tournament and the Canadian Soccer Association reiterated this in January 2014.

In September 2012, Mexican Football Federation (FMF) President Justino Compeán confirmed plans for a Mexican bid. In October 2013, Liga MX President said that Mexico was interested in joining forces with the U.S. to co-host a bid for the 2026 World Cup. On December 9, 2014, FMF confirmed that it was bidding for the 2026 World Cup.

On May 13, 2016, at the FIFA Congress in Mexico City, USSF board member John Motta told ESPN "whatever happens, we will bid for the 2026 World Cup -- either jointly (with Mexico or Canada) or we will go it alone." The United States hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup and unsuccessfully bid for the 2022 World Cup, which was won by Qatar in 2010. On April 18, 2015, Brazilian legend Pelé stated that the United States should host the 2026 World Cup.

In December 2016 Victor Montagliani, CONCACAF president announced for the first time a possibility of a joint bid between the United States, Canada, and Mexico to host the 2026 World Cup.

On April 10, 2017, the three bodies officially announced their intent to submit a joint bid for the 2026 World Cup.

Bid process

Bidding for the 2026 FIFA World Cup was postponed due to the 2015 FIFA corruption case and the subsequent resignation of Sepp Blatter, then was restarted following the FIFA Council meeting on May 10, 2016, wherein the bidding process would consist of four phases:

  • May 2016 – May 2017: a new strategy and consultation phase
  • June 2017 – Dec 2017: enhanced phases for bid preparation
  • March 2018 – June 2018: bid evaluation
  • June 2018: final decision

With no rival bid having emerged since April 2017 the CONCACAF member federations of Canada, Mexico, and the United States sent a joint request to FIFA to hasten the bid process. Canada, Mexico, and the United States wanted FIFA to award the bid outside the traditional bidding process at the June 2018 FIFA Congress in Moscow if the CONCACAF-bid meets FIFA requirements.

However the FIFA Council decided on May 8, 2017, that FIFA would have a full bidding procedure. In order to ensure continental rotation of hosting duties, only the member associations of CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, and the OFC were invited, as these continental confederations had not hosted the two previous World Cups. A date of August 11, 2017, was set for submission of an intention to bid.

FIFA football tournament hosting experiences

Together, Canada, Mexico, and the United States have hosted 14 FIFA events, which is the most of any trio of geographically connected nations.

In addition, all three countries have hosted at least one Olympic football tournament. Canada played host in Montreal 1976, Mexico in Mexico City 1968, and the United States hosted twice – in Los Angeles 1984 and Atlanta 1996. The Atlanta Games were the first to include a women's tournament.

Bid committee

On July 6, 2017, a United Bid Committee was officially formed by the national federations of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, to kick off the bidding process to bring the 2026 World Cup to North America.

Honorary chairman of the board

  • Robert Kraft: National Football League and Major League Soccer executive and owner

United bid committee board of directors

  • Steven Reed – co-chairman, president of the Canadian Soccer Association
  • Decio de María – co-chairman, president of the Mexican Football Federation
  • Carlos Cordeiro – co-chairman, president of the United States Soccer Federation
  • Victor Montagliani – president of CONCACAF
  • Sunil Gulati – FIFA Council member
  • Don Garber – commissioner of Major League Soccer
  • Dan Flynn – secretary general of U.S. Soccer
  • Donna Shalala – trustee professor of Political Science at the University of Miami
  • Guillermo Cantu – general secretary of the Mexican Football Federation
  • Peter Montopoli – general secretary of the Canadian Soccer Association
  • Carlos Bocanegra – technical director of Atlanta United FC
  • Julie Foudy – founder of Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy and television analyst and reporter for ESPN/ABC
  • Ed Foster-Simeon – president and CEO of U.S. Soccer Foundation

United bid committee executive team

  • John Kristick – executive director for the united bid committee
  • Jim Brown – managing director, technical operations
  • Peter Montopoli – Canada bid director
  • Yon De Luisa – Mexico bid director

Potential venues

On August 15, 2017, the United Bid Committee released a list of 49 stadiums in 44 metropolitan markets across the three nations to be considered for the official bid. Cities had to submit written proposals to the United Bid Committee by January 19, 2018, before being selected by the committee. The United Bid Committee planned to include 20–25 venues in the official bid, which was sent to FIFA in March 2018. Stadiums must have a capacity of at least 40,000 for group-round matches and at least 80,000 for the opening match and the final.

On September 7, 2017, the United Bid Committee announced that a total of 41 cities (with 44 venues) had submitted bids marking their official declaration of interest to be included in the final bid. Almost a month later, on October 4, 2017, the list of cities was cut down to 32 with 35 venues. During U.S. Soccer's annual general meeting in Orlando in February 2018, Gulati revealed that the list of cities had been cut down to 26 with 26 venues.[better source needed]

On March 14, 2018, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Vancouver all announced that they were dropping out as potential host cities. All three cities cited concerns over the financial transparency of being a host city and cited FIFA's unwillingness to negotiate financial details as reasons for their decisions; the bid committee announced the next day they had reduced the number of cities in the bid to 23.

On July 6, 2021, Canada Soccer announced that Montreal had withdrawn its bid from the selection process, due to the Quebec provincial government withdrawing its support. On April 14, 2022, more than four years after dropping out, BC Place in Vancouver was announced as a replacement for Montreal. On April 21, 2022, Washington, D.C. announced that they were dropping out and merging their campaign with Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium.

The official bid proposed the main opening match to be held in either Azteca Stadium in Mexico City or at the Rose Bowl in the Los Angeles area, that all three host countries' teams host their first matches on the first day of the tournament and that the final match be held at MetLife Stadium in the New York City area. The bid also proposed that the two semifinal matches to be held at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. All of the other cities in the American portion of the bid will be considered for quarterfinal matches. The bid book proposal called for Mexico and Canada to each host seven group-stage games, two matches in the round of 32, and one in the round of 16.

A † denotes stadium used for previous men's World Cup tournaments
A ‡ denotes an indoor stadium

Venues excluded since start of bidding process

Venues that were contacted but did not submit a bid

City Stadium Capacity Image
Calgary, Alberta McMahon Stadium 35,400
(expandable to 46,020)
Green Bay, Wisconsin Lambeau Field 81,441
Montreal, Quebec Saputo Stadium 20,801
San Diego, California Qualcomm Stadium 70,561
Toronto, Ontario Rogers Centre‡ 54,000

Venues that submitted bids but were rejected (1st round)

City Stadium Capacity Image
Birmingham, Alabama Legion Field 71,594
Cleveland, Ohio Huntington Bank Field 67,895
Indianapolis, Indiana Lucas Oil Stadium‡ 62,421
(expandable to 70,000)
Jacksonville, Florida TIAA Bank Field 69,132
(expandable to 82,000)
New Orleans, Louisiana Caesars Superdome‡ 73,208
(expandable to 76,438)
Ottawa, Ontario TD Place Stadium 24,000
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Acrisure Stadium 69,690
Regina, Saskatchewan Mosaic Stadium 33,350
(expandable to 40,000)
San Antonio, Texas Alamodome‡ 64,000

Venues that submitted bids but were rejected (2nd round)

The following cities were not selected as host cities bid, according to Sunil Gulati, during the 2018 US Soccer Annual General Meeting.

City Stadium Capacity Image
Charlotte, North Carolina Bank of America Stadium 75,525
Dallas, Texas Cotton Bowl† 92,100
Detroit, Michigan Ford Field‡ 65,000
(expandable to 70,000)
Las Vegas, Nevada Allegiant Stadium‡
(Paradise, Nevada) 		72,000
Los Angeles, California Memorial Coliseum 93,607
Phoenix, Arizona State Farm Stadium‡
(Glendale, Arizona) 		63,400
(expandable to 78,600)
Salt Lake City, Utah Rice–Eccles Stadium 53,609
Tampa, Florida Raymond James Stadium 65,890
(expandable to 75,000)

Venues that withdrew voluntarily

City Stadium Capacity Image
Chicago, Illinois Soldier Field† 61,500
Minneapolis, Minnesota U.S. Bank Stadium‡ 66,655
(expandable to 73,000)
Montreal, Quebec Olympic Stadium‡ 61,004
(Bid book: 55,822)
(Expandable to 73,000)
Washington, D.C. Northwest Stadium
(Landover, Maryland) 		62,000

Venues excluded from final list (June 2022)

City Stadium Capacity Image
Baltimore, Maryland M&T Bank Stadium 71,006
(Bid book: 70,976)
Cincinnati, Ohio Paycor Stadium 65,515
(Bid book: 67,402)
Denver, Colorado Empower Field at Mile High 76,125
(Bid book: 77,595)
Edmonton, Alberta Commonwealth Stadium 56,302
(Bid book: 56,418)
Los Angeles, California Rose Bowl
(Pasadena, California)† 		92,000
(Bid book: 88,432)
Nashville, Tennessee Nissan Stadium 69,143
(Bid book: 69,722)
(expandable to 75,000)
Orlando, Florida Camping World Stadium† 60,219
(Bid book: 65,000)
Baltimore
Birmingham
Calgary
Edmonton
Cincinnati
Charlotte
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas (Cotton Bowl)
Denver
Detroit
Green Bay
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Las Vegas
Los Angeles (MC and RB)
Minneapolis
Montreal
Nashville
New Orleans
Orlando
Ottawa
Phoenix
Pittsburgh
Regina
Salt Lake City
San Antonio
San Diego
Tampa
Toronto (Rogers)
Washington, D.C.
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Rejected and uninterested venues:
: Venue declined to participate
: Venue withdrew voluntarily
: Venue submitted bid but was rejected (1st round)
: Venue submitted bid but was rejected (2nd round)
: Venue cut after final decision (June 2022)

Venues selected to host matches

Canada

City Stadium Capacity Image
Vancouver, British Columbia BC Place‡ 54,000
Toronto, Ontario BMO Field 30,000
(Expanding to 45,500 for tournament)
Vancouver
Toronto
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Canadian cities hosting matches

Mexico

City Stadium Capacity Image
Mexico City Estadio Azteca† 87,523
Monterrey, Nuevo León Estadio BBVA 53,500
(Bid book: 53,460)
Guadalajara, Jalisco Estadio Akron 46,232
(Bid book: 48,071)
Guadalajara
Monterrey
Mexico City
class=notpageimage|
Mexican cities hosting matches

United States

City Stadium Capacity Image
New York/New Jersey MetLife Stadium
(East Rutherford, New Jersey) 		82,500
(Bid book: 87,157)
Dallas, Texas AT&T Stadium‡
(Arlington, Texas) 		80,000
(Bid book: 92,967)
(expandable to 105,000)
Kansas City, Missouri Arrowhead Stadium 76,416
(Bid book: 76,640)
Houston, Texas NRG Stadium‡ 72,220
Atlanta, Georgia Mercedes-Benz Stadium‡ 71,000
(Bid book: 75,000)
(expandable to 83,000)
Los Angeles, California* SoFi Stadium
(Inglewood, California) 		70,240
(expandable to 100,240)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Lincoln Financial Field 69,796
(Bid book: 69,328)
Seattle, Washington Lumen Field 69,000
(expandable to 72,000)
San Francisco Bay Area Levi's Stadium
(Santa Clara, California) 		68,500
(Bid book: 70,909)
(expandable to 75,000)
Boston, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
(Foxborough, Massachusetts) 		65,878
(Bid book: 70,000)
Miami, Florida Hard Rock Stadium
(Miami Gardens, Florida) 		64,767
(Bid book: 67,518)
* = Was not initially included in the bid book but was eventually considered.
Atlanta
Boston
Dallas
Houston
Kansas City
Los Angeles
Miami
New York/NJ
Philadelphia
San Francisco Bay Area
Seattle
class=notpageimage|
American cities hosting matches

Additional host venue information

Canada

Mexico

United States

General facilities

Support

Football confederations

  • Oceania Football Confederation
  • CONCACAF
  • CONMEBOL

FIFA members

  • Afghanistan
  • Argentina
  • Bolivia
  • Brazil
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Costa Rica
  • Denmark
  • Ecuador
  • El Salvador
  • Finland
  • Germany
  • Grenada
  • Guyana
  • Honduras
  • Iraq
  • Jamaica
  • Liberia
  • Namibia
  • Nicaragua
  • Panama
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Uruguay
  • Venezuela
  • Zimbabwe

Public opinion

On October 24, 2017, a survey of adults in Canada, Mexico, and the United States showed a broad support for Canada–United States–Mexico bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It found that 77% of North American residents are in favor of hosting the first-ever 48-team FIFA World Cup, and 81% of respondents across the three countries agree that hosting the tournament would be good for their specific country. Also, nearly six in 10 (57 percent) of those surveyed say they would be interested in attending FIFA World Cup matches if the games were played near where they live or work.

U.S. House of Representatives

On April 20, 2018, Representatives Darin LaHood and fellow co-chairs of the Congressional Soccer Caucus Kathy Castor (FL-14), Don Bacon (NE-02), Ruben Kihuen (NV-04) introduced a resolution to recognize and support the efforts of the United Bid Committee to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States. The U.S. House of Representatives adopted this resolution on April 25, 2018.

Other government officials

Toronto city councilors Mark Grimes and Cesar Palacio supported the bid, as well as Mayor John Tory. Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante also supported it.

On March 13, 2018, Canadian Minister of Sport Kirsty Duncan announced in Ottawa that the Canadian federal government officially threw its support behind the North American bid for the 2026 World Cup, with the promise of up to $5 million in immediate help should the unified bid win.

U.S. President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto all supported the bid for the World Cup.

Marketing

The bid is branded "United 2026", the logo of the bid is a ball with the number 26 representing the year "2026" with the colors of the flags of Canada, Mexico, and the United States and the slogans are: "United As One" (Spanish: "Unidos Como Uno", French: "Unis Comme Un"). and "Football For All" (Spanish: "Fútbol Para Todos", French: "Football Pour Tous").

Opinions

On December 28, 2017, during a sports business conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, FIFA president Gianni Infantino considered the United bid to be a positive message.

Controversies

U.S. President Donald Trump's executive orders regarding immigration from certain Muslim-majority countries implemented during his first term in 2017 was touted as a potential risk, with Infantino saying, "Any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup." In response, the Trump administration sent letters to FIFA that read, in part, that Trump was "confident" that "all eligible athletes, officials and fans from all countries around the world would be able to enter the United States without discrimination." In 2018, Trump then warned the countries that intended to support the Morocco bid to host the 2026 World Cup, tweeting: "The US has put together a STRONG bid w/ Canada & Mexico for the 2026 World Cup. It would be a shame if countries that we always support were to lobby against the U.S. bid. Why should we be supporting these countries when they don't support us (including at the United Nations)?" In January 2021, the travel ban was reversed by his successor Joe Biden.

Both Trump administrations has been met with a wave of concern from co-hosts Canada and Mexico, particularly about his messaging regarding tariffs on both countries as well as the sovereignty of Canada. In addition, restrictions on immigration and a reduced federal workforce have created concerns that fans may not be able to get their visas in time for the event, as the wait for a visa interview in some countries is roughly around a year on average, with one travel report from the U.S. Travel Association said the U.S. was not even prepared to host one. There is also the concern that the Trump administration may implement an updated version of the travel ban implemented in 2017 which could outright prevent fans from 40 countries from attending.

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