World Cup 2026: Canada, US & Mexico joint bid wins right to host tournament

The 2026 World Cup will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico after their joint bid beat Morocco's proposal to host it.

The 'United 2026' bid was selected by Fifa member nations, winning 134 votes compared to 65 for Morocco.

The 2026 tournament will be the biggest World Cup ever held - with 48 teams playing 80 matches over 34 days.

"Football is the only victor. We are all united in football," US Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro said.

"Thank you so, so much for this incredible honour. Thank you for entrusting us with this privilege."

• Can US, Canada and Mexico really get along?

Of the 211 Fifa member nations, 200 cast a vote at the 68th Fifa Congress in Moscow on Wednesday, with the winning bid needing a majority of 104.

Canada, Mexico, Morocco and the US were exempt, while Ghana was absent after the country's government said it had disbanded its football association amid allegations of "widespread" corruption.

Three US territories - Guam, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico - were among the other member nations to not vote.

Both Mexico (1970 and 1986) and the United States (1994) have previously hosted World Cups.

Canada staged the Women's World Cup in 2015.

• Will a single country ever host the World Cup again?

The bidding process

Since the 2018 and 2022 tournaments were awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively in December 2010, widespread corruption has been exposed in the global game, including allegations of bribery and payment for votes.

A BBC Panorama documentary claimed Qatar spent £117m on their successful bid for the 2022 World Cup - the first to be held in winter - while former Fifa president Sepp Blatter suggested there was an agreement in place for Russia to host the 2018 tournament before the vote took place.

Prominent figures, including Blatter, have since been indicted.

As a result Fifa - under the presidency of Gianni Infantino - promised a "more open and transparent" vote to decide the 2026 World Cup host.

It was decided that Fifa's 22-strong executive committee would no longer vote on behalf of the membership, as had occurred previously,

Instead, the two bids made a final 15-minute presentation in front of congress before the Fifa member nations cast their votes.

2026 world cup: Canada–Mexico–United States 2026 FIFA World Cup bid

United 2026 was a successful joint bid, led by the United States Soccer Federation, to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, as well as sites in Canada and Mexico as co-hosts.

While the football 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. 10 U.S. candidate cities will join three Canadian candidate cities, and three Mexican candidate cities, to form the roster of 16 cities that will host the matches of this World Cup. Although a joint bid, the majority of the matches will be held in the United States. Canada and Mexico will host 10 matches each, while the United States will host 60, including all matches from the quarterfinals onward, and the final.^[1][2]

On June 13, 2018, at the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow, Russia, the United bid was selected by 134 votes to Morocco's 65, while one country voted for neither.^[3] Upon this selection, Canada will become the fourth country to host both men's and women's World Cup, joining the United States, France, and Germany. Mexico will become the first country to host three men's FIFA World Cups. This will be the first World Cup to be hosted in three countries and the first since 2002 to have multiple host countries.