Potential 2026 WC Hosts (Update: Morocco Sole Challenger to CONCACAF Bid)

You don't think Canada is super happy about this? A free ride to the WC 2026 with a chance to host 10 games?

The only thing they are probably mad about is that they have to learn to grow some grass

 

We're gonna let Mexico host 10 games and were going to Mexico pay for those 10 games. Believe me.

 

Last month it was 0 and 0. Listen mate. You got everything lined up for to host all the games and then the FIFA president hints really strongly that you gotta cohost. Why would it be fair to split out all the games equally?

 

On your first point, absolutely about the single hosting. Only a handful of countries have the infrastructure to even host such an absurd amount of games. Spitting it up makes the most sense going forward.

 

USA, Mexico, Canada Bid For 2026 World Cup Finals May Seem A Shoo-In But Here Are Seven Big Problems

 

All of those "problems" have probably been recognized and discussed by the three parties involved and can be resolved within a matter of months in most cases,
And I would say that any other opposing bid would have way more than 7 problems.

 

Agreed. Nothing that can't be overcome.

Here is a wild card the author hasn't thought of. What if the Trump administration revokes support for a FIFA event on US soil after the Israeli FA is firmly told to get out of the West Bank?

That decisions is looming and the conspiracy theorist in me wonders if that forms part of the reason to push the NAFTA bid through early (i.e. before the Israel issue blows up).

 

I just read the article and I don't consider any of the author's 7 problems as "big". Any other credible bid for 2026 will either have similar problems or other ones that are even bigger.

 

The general American public has no understanding of FAs. Very little to gain for Trump to do that. However, there is a lot to lose. For the people involved in this there is a lot of money in the horizon. The US WC is a private initiative with the purpose of generating a nice payday for stadium owners and increasing interest in soccer. These guys have money and would be upset. Besides I've never seen a country boycott their own event!

 

You assume Trump will act in a rational manner. Not exactly the administration's forte so far.

If he threatens to withhold UN funding over Israel it's not a stretch to suggest that he doesn't want to help a sports body "hostile towards Israel" to make money with a US-based event. Not sure I understand your boycott remark but without government support the USSF would have to withdraw their hosting bid.

 

Sigh. He won't be around in 2026. USSF doesn't need government money for this. They need to pass some laws and such but that is more Congress. Trump could make the process painful but there is no way he can completely block it. He is heavily involved in the hotel and entertainment industry and he has been heavily pro-business. This is just some random conjecture on your part.

 

He won't be around in 2026 but he will be around when the tournament is awarded. And while the bid doesn't need any government infrastructure funding it will need significant government support at the security front.

Look, I agree it is very unlikely to become a problem but I can think of days where world affairs made a lot more sense. Everywhere really.

 

Not only that, he will be in the election cycle when its awarded. He may say something inflammatory that damages the bid if Fox News tells him to.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/18/...ees-to-support-us-led-world-cup-bid.html?_r=0

 

I really don't understand the logic of moving up the timeline. What purpose? The US already has the stadiums and they don't really need extra time. Also, there really is no alternative. At least not in Africa. This just shows how badly the backers of the bid were shaken up by the 2022 bidding. Very nervous that the rug will once again be pulled out from under their feet as unlikely as it seems.

 

So the OCEANA confederation supports the bid. I wonder if they were bought off with cash, hookers, of friendlies? Looking forward to USA vs New Zealand; Canada verse Tahiti, and Mexico verse Samoa in the next few years.

 

Probably to get focus off of the disaster that is Qatar and get people looking toward the much more reasonable bid from the 3 North American countries.

 

I don't mind awarding the tournament early - perhaps even next year.

But handing it to CONCACAF five minutes after the bid announcement (pending technical review) without giving others a chance to bid simply isn't right. Can we just get through a FIFA Congress meeting without some last minute stunts? For those who don't remember, last year we had the sneaky agenda inclusion to clip the wings of the independent audit committee (leading to Domenico Scala's resignation).

This is not how you build transparency.

 

Yeah, because MLS teams all play on grass...oh wait...

 

As far as I'm concerned, this is a US World Cup with both Canada and Mexico playing their parts to facilitate the US getting it for a 2nd time.

We did our part and I'm fine with it.

As for those who complains about the US not getting all the games to themselves, it came down to votes. A solo US bid was unlikely to win all the votes and would have had more challengers while a CONCACAF bid made everyone retreat.

Asia and Africa represents the biggest voting block with 100 votes out of 209. It's no secret that those 2 confederation weren't excited by an American bid, especially with the current political climate. It was a big risk if Canada, Mexico and the US presented solo bids which could have allowed an African nation or Oceania to escape with the win by dividing the vote.

That's why there's a US bid with Canada and Mexico playing a supporting role. Perhaps more "thank you" and less "stop complaining" are in order.

 

Essentially, you just came up with a very unlikely scenario, hardly connected to the World Cup in anyway. Then, offered up the fact that Trump could ruin the World Cup for said issue, due to the sole reason that you feel he is irrational. I'd say the odds are pretty slim...

 

The US likely would have still won on its own. I think they just did this to expedite the process, take the odds of winning from 90% to 99%, as well as secure future leverage for other CONCACAF world cups.

 

I assume he's talking about how all the Women complained about the artificial turf in their Canadian world cup.

 

If that was true, why didn't they bid on their own? Generosity? No one is that naive.

Insiders said that Africa and Asia representing half of the 209 votes we're less likely to vote for a solo US bid. A solo US bid would have encouraged more opposition splitting the vote. Don't forget that Mexico and Canada was going to bid as well.

With the political climate, Asia and Africa were less likely to vote for the US and same for Latin America including CONCACAF and CONMEBOL.

UEFA served a stern warning to the USSF over the travel ban and warned they consider it when it be time to choose nation. The votes being split between US, Mexico and Canada could have allowed an African nation to win it.

A US solo bid was too divisive so the co-bid took place.

If the odds were really 90%, the US would have bid solo. Canada and Mexico being part of it gave the US A 100% certainty to host the tournament.

 

No one wanted the 2015 Women's World Cup. Canada took it without opposition. FIFA allowed it so that's what happened in a nutshell