US, Canada and Mexico announce joint bid for World Cup 2026

Gulati said the initial plans were to stage 60 of the 80 World Cup games in the USA, with Canada and Mexico hosting 10 games each.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the first edition to feature the expanded 48-team format, which requires facilities and infrastructure that the three nations are suited to fulfill.

Under current Federation Internationale de Football Association rules, bids from Europe and Asia are not eligible for 2026 since Russia is already preparing to host in 2018 and Qatar will stage the event in 2022.

Sunil Gulati, US Soccer Federation chief, who announced the bid in NY with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts on Monday, insisted they had the full backing of President Donald Trump, despite the US leader's rocky relations with Mexico.

The United States, Mexico and Canada have officially launched a bid to jointly host the 2026 World Cup.

The decision on who will host the event will be made in 2020. The final would be held in the U.S. Other countries have this year and part of next year to submit their bids.

"Before this conference is over we will sign a memorandum of understanding between the three of our countries, signifying we will bid together".

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The last time Federation Internationale de Football Association chose hosts for men's World Cups the decision was mired in controversy. Through FIFA's continental rotation system, the 2026 host is expected to come from CONCACAF which has not hosted the World Cup since the United States had the honor in 1994. South America (Brazil) hosted in 2014, and Africa (South Africa) four years before that. "The president is fully supportive and in the last few days we've received even more strong encouragement from President Trump".

"The other part of it is we think it's terrific for football in the region and soccer in region, both for Canada, Mexico and the USA, given the close relationships we have already".

The current tournament structure, which will be used in Russian Federation in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, involves 32 teams and 64 matches.

The World Cup has taken place in Mexico twice - in 1970 and 1986 - while the United States was the venue for the 1994 edition.

At the minute, the plan is the U.S. will host 60 games and 10 games each will be played in Mexico and Canada.

Their agreement calls for all games from the quarter-finals on to be held in the US, making for a set of ground rules that will likely leave Canadian and Mexican fans feeling like Oliver Twist. In an unprecedented investment, Qatar is projected to spend more than $200 billion for the 2022 World Cup.

The Mexican national team has played over twice as many matches in the United States since the turn of the last century as it has in Mexico.