And the fact Mexico will help pay for it apparently was enough to get president Donald Trump on board.
If the ambitious three-nation bid is successful, it will be the first time a World Cup will be hosted by multiple countries since the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan.
The U.S. will take the bulk of the tournament, with 60 of the 80 games in the United States of America.
A series of decisions made by the sport's governing body Federation Internationale de Football Association, since the scandal over the voting for the 2018 and 2022 editions, have loaded the dice heavily in favour of the North American bid. The bids will be evaluated over the next 15 months, with that phase being completed by February 2020. If the bid was successful - and providing Federation Internationale de Football Association decides to keep the current system - it would mean three of CONCACAF's qualification slots would be sewn up by the hosts.
Sunil Gulati, president of the US Soccer Federation, told reporters: "The United States, Mexico and Canada have individually demonstrated their exceptional abilities to host world-class events".
Gulati said the initial plans were to stage 60 of the 80 World Cup games in the United States, with Canada and Mexico hosting 10 games each.
The last time the Games were held in North America was in 1994 when the United States hosted for the first time.
Canada is coming off hosting the 2015 Women's World Cup, deemed a success on and off the field. "All of Canada and Mexico understand that the U.S. doesn't need us to put together a bid, but find out that they would like to have us as part of this bid".
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"To see different countries coming to play here, different supporters, different crowd that's something soccer everywhere in the world has, and that's how soccer grows and it's something very important", Paunovic said after the Fire beat the first place Columbus Crew 1-0.
The United States had been the favorite in its bid for the 2022 World Cup, but controversially lost the voting to Qatar in 2010 in a round of bidding that is thought to have been rife with corruption and vote-trading.
There are still plenty of logistical hurdles for the three countries to overcome, including travel over such a large area. The new format will feature 16 groups of three with the top two from each pool advancing to a 32-team knockout.
The three countries have vastly different qualifying histories.
He likened the Canadian soccer landscape as being similar to where the US was before it was awarded the 1994 World Cup - which saw the sport take off in the States.
It looks like the US and CONCACAF know it. Mexico City's Azteca Stadium, built for the 1966 World Cup, has an 87,000 capacity after a renovation that was completed previous year, and there are relatively new venues in Monterrey (BBVA Bancomer, 52,000, 2015) and Guadalajara (Estadio Chivas, 45,000, 2010). Montagliani agreed it's a "possibility" that no other nations will attempt to host in 2026.
The North American joint bid has a strong chance of success given that Europe and Asia are excluded from bidding because those continents will hold the next two tournaments.




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