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Mexico, USA and Canada have officially announced their bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The candidacy was announced by all three federations in a joint press conference on Monday.
¡Todos están invitados! pic.twitter.com/oGfu80q8Xe
— Selección Nacional (@miseleccionmx) April 10, 2017
Mexico Federation president Decio De Maria and his two counterparts signed an agreement promising to take the three-country project forward.
More bids are expected to follow but the Mexico-USA-Canada bid is set to be among the favorites.
Mexico has hosted the World Cup twice, in 1970 an 1986, while the US hosted the tournament in 1994. Canada has never hosted the World Cup.
The United States generally has the larger stadiums and is expected to host the majority of the matches.
“The general parameters of this bid are a World Cup of 80 games. Three-quarters of which will be played in the United States; 60 games in the United States and 10 each in Canada and Mexico,” said United States Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati.
.@sunilgulati @CONCACAF @FMF @CanadaSoccerEN Sunil Gulati: Final decision is up to FIFA, but of the 80 World Cup games, 60 would be played in the U.S., including from quarterfinals on. pic.twitter.com/WqCBaUicwb
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) April 10, 2017
The joint bid has received support from United States president Donald Trump, who previously ran a polarizing campaign formulated on ethnic nationalism, protectionism, and immigration restriction.
.@POTUS is fully supportive of our unified bid for the 2026 #FIFA World Cup and especially pleased that Mexico is a part of it.
— Sunil Gulati (@sunilgulati) April 10, 2017
Ultimately, Fifa will consider bids over the next three years, with the final decision coming in May 2020.