Given the state of the world, it is probably a wise thing that North America’s bid for the 2026 soccer World Cup is a three way partnership between the United States, Canada and Mexico. It has been common wisdom that the three countries would get the 2026 event with no opposition but there is now a late entry into the race: Morocco. The North African country has bid for the event before but it seems highly unlikely that soccer’s governing body will do more than say thank you for being on our show and please enjoy your parting gifts maybe try again in 2030.
Canada, Mexico and the United States have decided to bid together for the 2026 soccer World Cup, which economically makes an awful lot of sense. The World Cup needs as many as 12 different sites but Qatar is only building eight for the 2022 event. The US can easily offer East Rutherford, NJ, Los Angeles, Houston, Washington, Arlington, Texas and other places. Canada has facilities in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. Mexico can suggest Mexico City, Monterey and Tijuana just down the road from San Diego.
The soccer federations of the three countries think they can co-exist and by 2026, there will be another person sitting in the Oval Office. It is not exactly a state secret that the Trump Administration has major disagreements with Mexico along with various soccer federations around the world because of immigration policies. FIFA plans to award the 2026 World Cup to the top bidder in 2020. Cities and countries are shying away from bidding on the mega world events like the Commonwealth Games, World Cup and the Olympics. Boston, Hamburg, Rome, Budapest and Toronto didn’t want the 2024 Summer Olympics, a canton in Switzerland voted against holding the 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics. The North America plan is less costly. Event expenditures have become a major sports issue.
By Evan Weiner For The Politics Of Sports Business
This article was republished with permission from the original publisher, Evan Weiner.