The 2026 FIFA World Cup bidding process resulted in the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) selecting the joint United States / Canada / Mexico bid as the location for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Two bids to host the event were submitted to FIFA, a joint bid by Canada, Mexico and the United States, and one by Morocco. On 13 June 2018, at the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow, the joint bid was selected by 134 votes to Morocco's 65.[1] This will be the first tournament hosted by more than two countries, and only the second hosted by more than one country—the other having been the 2002 tournament, hosted by South Korea and Japan.
Upon this selection, each country made hosting records of their own. Canada becomes the fifth country to host both men's and women's World Cup—the latter having been in 2015; Mexico becomes the first country to host the men's World Cup three times—having done so previously in 1970 and 1986; and the United States becomes the first country to host both men's and women's World Cup twice—having hosted the 1994 men's and the 1999 and 2003 women's World Cups.
Background
editThe FIFA Council (and its proceeding Executive Committee) went back and forth between 2013 and 2017 on limitations within hosting rotation based on the continental confederations. Originally, it was set that bids to be host would not be allowed from countries belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments. It was temporarily changed to only prohibit countries belonging to the confederation that hosted the previous World Cup from bidding to host the following tournament,[2] before the rule was changed back to its prior state of two World Cups. However, the FIFA Council did make an exception to potentially grant eligibility to member associations of the confederation of the second-to-last host of the FIFA World Cup in the event that none of the received bids fulfill the strict technical and financial requirements.[3][4] In March 2017, FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed that "Europe (UEFA) and Asia (AFC) are excluded from the bidding following the selection of Russia and Qatar in 2018 and 2022 respectively."[5] Therefore, the 2026 World Cup could be hosted by one of the remaining four confederations: CONCACAF (last hosted in 1994), CAF (last hosted in 2010), CONMEBOL (last hosted in 2014), or OFC (never hosted before), or potentially by UEFA in case no bid from those four met the requirements.
Co-hosting the FIFA World Cup, which had been banned by FIFA after the 2002 World Cup, was approved for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, though not limited to a specific number but instead evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Also by 2026, the FIFA general secretariat, after consultation with the Competitions Committee, will have the power to exclude bidders who do not meet the minimum technical requirements to host the competition.[3]
Bid process
editThe bidding process was due to start in 2015, with the appointment of hosts scheduled for the FIFA Congress on 10 May 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,[6][7] but was postponed due to the 2015 FIFA corruption case and the subsequent resignation of Sepp Blatter[8] and resumed following the FIFA Council meeting on 10 May 2016, with a final decision in May 2020,[9] amid corruption allegations around the previous tournaments, due to be held in 2018 (Russia), as well as in 2022 (Qatar).[10][11][12][13]
The original bidding process originally consisted of four phases:[9]
- May 2016– May 2017: a new strategy and consultation phase
- June 2017– December 2018: enhanced phases for bid preparation
- January 2019– February 2020: bid evaluation
- May 2020: final decision
The consultation phase focused on four areas:
- The inclusion of human rights requirements, sustainable event management, environmental protection in the bidding
- Principle of exclusion of bidders that do not meet technical requirements
- Review of the current stance on joint bids
- Number of teams
On 7 November 2017, FIFA published a guide to bidding process. It outlines the key elements of the reformed bidding process, the assessment mechanisms in place, recommendations on the protection of the process' integrity, the timeline for the selection of the host(s), the specific requirements for hosting, a detailed explanation of the government guarantees, as well as the principles of sustainable event management and human rights protection.[14][15]
Bid Evaluation Task Force
editOn 27 October 2017, the FIFA Council ratified the decision of the Bureau of the Council of 6 September 2017 to approve the enhanced Bidding Regulations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It also appointed the members of the Bid Evaluation Task Force.[16] According to the Bidding Regulations,[17][18][19] the Task Force is expected to be composed by:
- Tomaž Vesel: chairman of the Audit & Compliance Committee
- Mukul Mudgal: chairman of the Governance Committee
- Ilco Gjorgioski: member of the Organising Committee for FIFA Competitions
- Zvonimir Boban: FIFA Deputy General Secretary (Football)
- Marco Villiger: FIFA Deputy General Secretary (Administration)
Fast track bid process
editWith no rival bid having emerged since April 2017 the CONCACAF member federations of Canada, Mexico and the United States sent a joint request to FIFA to hasten the bid process. Canada, Mexico and the United States wanted FIFA to award the bid outside the traditional bidding process at the June 2018 FIFA Congress in Moscow if the CONCACAF-bid meets FIFA requirements.[20][21]
However the FIFA Council proposed on 8 May 2017 that FIFA shall establish a bidding procedure inviting initially only the member associations of CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL and the OFC – continental confederations whose members have not hosted the two previous World Cups – as candidates to submit to FIFA bids to host the final competition of the 2026 FIFA World Cup by 11 August 2017. The 68th FIFA Congress will decide on the selection of the candidate host associations.[22]
On 11 May 2017, the 67th FIFA Congress voted on the FIFA Council proposal to the fast-track the 2026 FIFA World Cup bid process and set the following deadlines:[1][23][24]
Updated bidding process:
- May 2016 – May 2017: a new strategy and consultation phase
- June 2017 – December 2017: enhanced phases for bid preparation
- March 2018 – June 2018: bid evaluation
- June 2018: final decision
Deadlines:
- 11 August 2017: any other nations interested in bidding have to express interest
- 16 March 2018: bidders must meet a list of FIFA's technical specifications, and bids must be officially submitted by then
- 13 June 2018: the 68th FIFA Congress will decide on whether to select one of the official bids. Should neither be selected, further member associations, including those from AFC and UEFA and excluding the initial bidders, will be invited to bid, and in this scenario, a final decision would be taken by the 70th FIFA Congress in May 2020.
Bid requirements
editEndorsement of a set of principles submitted by the FIFA administration as part of the process to select the host of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, including an overview of the content to be requested from bidding member associations and high-level hosting requirements. These include: stadium and infrastructure requirements; principles of sustainable event management, human rights and environmental protection; and details on aspects such as governmental support documents, the organisational model to be adopted and provisions for the establishment of a legacy fund. A complete version of the bid requirements will eventually be dispatched to member associations that register to take part in the process.[22][15]
Stadiums requirementseditFIFA have established minimum requirements for stadiums capacities.[15]
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Team and referee facilitieseditFIFA established minimum requirements for team and referee facilities.[15]
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Official bids
editUnder FIFA rules as of 2017, the 2026 Cup cannot be in either Europe (UEFA) or Asia (AFC),[4][25] leaving an African (CAF) bid, a North American (CONCACAF) bid, a South American (CONMEBOL) bid, or an Oceania (OFC) bid as the only possible options.[26] In March 2017, FIFA confirmed that "Europe (UEFA) and Asia (AFC) are excluded from the bidding following the selection of Russia and Qatar in 2018 and 2022 respectively."[5]
CAF
edit
Morocco
Moroccan Minister of Youth and Sports, Moncef Belkhayat, stated that: "The African Cup of Nations 2015 will be the first indicator of our ability to host a great event. Then we can confidently consider us as a candidate to host the World Cup 2026".[27][28] However, in November 2014, Morocco asked to postpone the African Cup of Nations to summer due to the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, and lost its hosting rights in favor of Equatorial Guinea.[29]
Morocco lost bids to host the World Cup in 1994, 1998, 2006, and 2010 to the United States, France, Germany, and South Africa, respectively. Morocco successfully hosted the 2013 and 2014 FIFA Club World Cups and the 2018 African Nations Championship. On 11 August 2017, Morocco officially announced a bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[30] If successful, it would have been the second African country, after the 2010 tournament in South Africa. [31]
CONCACAF
edit
Canada / 
Mexico / 
United States
Following rumors on each nation bidding individually, the three nations announced on 10 April 2017 a bid to host the World Cup jointly.[32][33] Canada and Mexico would host 10 games each, while the United States would host the remaining 60 games, including all remaining matches from the quarterfinals onward.[34]
The 2026 tournament will be the first to be held in three countries. Mexico is the first nation to serve three World Cups, having already hosted the 1970 and 1986 men's tournaments.[35] It will be the first men's tournament and second overall to be held in Canada after the 2015 women's tournament, and the second men's and fourth overall in the United States, after the 1994 men's and the 1999 and 2003 women's tournaments.
Bid evaluation report
editSome of the main requirements addressed by FIFA are security, finance and hospitality, and Morocco fulfills all these requirements as this has been proven by the outcome of the FIFA Task Force: The note was 2,7 from the total of 5 points. Additionally the travel time between the proposed venues is manageable, since all the venues are within a one-hour flight of Casablanca. Another point is the suitable global time, because in Morocco the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the local time and therefore a large number of countries can watch the live transmission of the games in a suitable time. Finally the proximity to Europe is a good advantage for a large number of European supporters.
However, multiple risks exist for FIFA with the bid. In its evaluation report, Morocco received high risk options for stadiums, accommodation and transportation. Overall the bid was labelled as high risk and the United joint bid was rated as low risk to FIFA.[36]
2026 World Cup host election results
edit203 of the 211 member associations of FIFA were able to vote.
The eight ineligible associations were as follows:
- The four bidding nations, Morocco, Canada, Mexico and the United States, and three organized unincorporated territories of the U.S. (Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) were ineligible to vote.[37] American Samoa, an unorganized unincorporated territory of the U.S., was allowed to vote.
- Ghana was barred from voting after the country's FA was suspended amid a corruption scandal.[38][39][40]
The United bid won receiving 134 votes, while the Morocco bid received 65 votes. No representative within their home confederation CONCACAF voted against the United bid, whilst eleven representatives within their home confederation CAF voted against the Morocco bid. The Brazil representative voted for the Morocco bid reportedly thinking the vote was private,[41] despite its home confederation CONMEBOL having endorsed the United bid overall.[42] Iran voted for the option "None of the bids", while Cuba, Slovenia and Spain abstained from voting.[43]
Election results by association
edit
| Allowed to vote | Banned from voting |
|---|---|
Voted for United bid | Canada/Mexico/United States/Puerto Rico/US Virgin Islands/Guam |
Voted for Moroccan bid | Morocco |
Voted for neither | Sanctioned by FIFA |
Abstained from voting | Not a FIFA member |
Broadcasting rights
editOn 12 February 2015, Fox, Telemundo, and Bell Media's rights to the tournament were renewed by FIFA to cover 2026, without accepting any other bids. The New York Times believed that this extension was intended as compensation for the rescheduling of the 2022 World Cup to November–December rather than its traditional June–July scheduling, which falls during the heart of the National Football League season (where Fox is currently a main U.S. rightsholder), and the beginning of the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League seasons.[49][50][46]
References and notes
editNotes
edit- ^ The day before the voting, Spanish coach Julen Lopetegui signed a contract with Real Madrid: after learning of this signing en route to the voting venue, RFEF chairman Luis Rubiales instead flew to the Spanish team camp in Krasnodar, where he fired Lopetegui on the spot.[44]
References
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- ^ "Current allocation of FIFA World Cup confederation slots maintained". FIFA.com. 30 May 2015. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015.
- ^ a b "FIFA Council discusses vision for the future of football". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ a b "FIFA blocks Europe from hosting 2026 World Cup, lifting Canada's chances". CBC. Associated Press. 14 October 2016. Archived from the original on 14 October 2016.
- ^ a b "Trump travel ban could prevent United States hosting World Cup". The Guardian. 9 March 2017.
- ^ "2022 FIFA World Cup to be played in November/December". FIFA.com. 20 March 2015. Archived from the original on 16 May 2015.
- ^ "FIFA defers decision on continental rotation for WCup bids". Yahoo! News. Associated Press. 25 May 2015. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
- ^ "Scandal-plagued FIFA postpones 2026 World Cup bidding". ABC News. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
- ^ a b "FIFA Council agrees on four-phase bidding process for 2026 FIFA World Cup". FIFA.com. 10 May 2016. Archived from the original on 10 May 2016.
- ^ "World Cup 2026 bidding delayed". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
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- ^ "FIFA publishes guide to bidding process for the 2026 FIFA World Cup". FIFA.com. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d "GUIDE TO THE BIDDING PROCESS FOR THE 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 November 2017.
- ^ "FIFA Council approves key organisational elements of the FIFA World Cup". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 24 January 2022.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "FIFA REGULATIONS" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 October 2017.
- ^ "Overview of Government Guarantees and the Government Declaration" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 October 2017.
- ^ "STRUCTURE, CONTENT, PRESENTATION, FORMAT AND DELIVERY OF BID BOOK" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 October 2017.
- ^ "CONCACAF to ask FIFA to fast-track U.S.-led 2026 World Cup bid – sources". 11 April 2011. Archived from the original on 23 May 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
- ^ Evans, Simon (8 May 2017). "FIFA Council set to back North American 2026 World Cup bid". Reuters.
- ^ a b "FIFA Council prepares Congress, takes key decisions for the future of the FIFA World Cup". inside.fifa.com. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Fifa votes overwhelmingly to fast-track 2026 World Cup bid process". The Guardian. 11 May 2017. Archived from the original on 12 May 2017.
- ^ "FIFA approves plan to fast-track 2026 World Cup host bidding process". ESPN. 11 May 2017.
- ^ Gastelum, Andrew (8 July 2013). "CONCACAF president is pushing hard to land 2026 World Cup". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ^ "No Rest For The Curious: Looking Ahead To World Cup 2026". World Cup Blog. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ^ Guillaume Errard (24 March 2011). "Le Maroc veut organiser la Coupe du monde en 2026" [Morocco to host the World Cup in 2026]. Le Figaro. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
- ^ Hamad Mousa (5 September 2013). "المغرب يترشح لتنظيم مونديال 2026" [Morocco candidate for organizing the 2026 World Cup] (in Arabic). Eurosport. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- ^ "Equatorial Guinea selected as new hosts for 2015 Africa Cup of Nations". TheGuardian.com.
- ^ "Le Maroc dépose officiellement sa candidature pour le Mondial 2026". Le360. 11 August 2017.
- ^ "World Cup 2026: Morocco confirms it will bid to host tournament". BBC Sport. 12 August 2017.
- ^ Staff, SI.com (10 April 2017). "USA, Mexico, Canada announce bid to host '26 WC". Archived from the original on 11 April 2017.
- ^ Carlisle, Jeff (10 April 2017). "U.S., Mexico and Canada officially launch bid to co-host 2026 World Cup". ESPN. Archived from the original on 11 April 2017.
- ^ Carlise, Jeff (10 April 2017). "U.S., neighbors launch 2026 World Cup bid". ESPN. Archived from the original on 11 April 2017.
- ^ "United States, Canada and Mexico win vote to host 2026 FIFA World Cup". USA TODAY. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- ^ Harris, Rob; Dunbar, Graham (1 June 2018). "FIFA: N America World Cup bid outscores 'high-risk' Morocco". The Washington Post. Washington D.C., USA. Archived from the original on 8 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
- ^ "U.S. territories won't vote for 2026 World Cup hosts – sources". ESPN. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- ^ Gyamera-Antwi, Evans (12 June 2018). "Ghana & Kosovo excluded from Fifa Congress ahead of 2026 World Cup vote". Goal.com. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- ^ "Breaking News: President Akufo-Addo dissolves GFA". myjoyonline.com. 7 June 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
- ^ "Fifa bans Ghana football head Kwesi Nyantakyi over 'cash gift'". BBC News. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
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- ^ "CONMEBOL endorses North American joint bid to host 2026 World Cup". ESPN. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ^ "Voting Results for the 2026 FIFA World Cup" (PDF). FIFA. 13 June 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 December 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- ^ "Palestine Football: World Cup 2018: Spain sack manager Julen Lopetegui two days before first match". BBC. 13 June 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
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- ^ a b "FIFA extending TV deals through 2026 World Cup with CTV, TSN and RDS". The Globe and Mail. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ Parker, Ryan (14 February 2015). "2026 World Cup TV rights awarded without bids; ESPN 'surprised'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ Noticias, videos y fotos de Mundial 2026, 18 December 2022
- ^ Deitsch, Richard (12 February 2015). "FIFA grants Fox U.S. TV rights for World Cup through 2026". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
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