People are very excited about the 2026 FIFA World Cup now that the times and locations have been made public. Although football fans have mixed feelings about the tournament’s return to North America after 32 years, it will happen. There is the question of why the US couldn’t just get the hosting rights on their own. Alexi Lalas, a former player for the USMNT, even said that he thought anti-American feelings played a part in the choice.
Three different countries will work together to host this World Cup, making it one of a kind. The United States beat out Morocco and Brazil in 1988 to host the whole 1994 World Cup. Analysts say that the United States’ choice to work with Mexico and Canada this time may have been affected by political issues.
Lalas says that America teamed up with Mexico and Canada even though they had the facilities they needed. This is because of their geopolitical problems. Lalas said in a post on X (formerly Twitter), “When the US’s bid for the 2026 World Cup was made in 2017, there was a chance that its geopolitical baggage could be a liability.” Some FIFA votes may have been less anti-American after adding Canada and Mexico. In the end, it made a bid that was already appealing even stronger. In spite of this, the USA will still host most of the games.
Some people don’t understand why Mexico and Canada were included in the bid when the US has so many big towns with great stadiums. One of their points of view is that the US could have easily hosted the whole event on its own. The voting process involves representatives from the 211 member associations. For the US to have a good chance of winning, they needed strong diplomatic links with other member associations. Partnerships with Mexico and Canada helped them do that. With a vote of 134-65, the North American bid won in the end.
These countries did not vote for the North American bid: China, French Taipei, North Korea, and Qatar. But votes from countries in the Middle East that support them, like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain, helped bring up the numbers. Lalas says it’s possible that the number of votes would have been smaller if the US had run alone.
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The event will take place in a number of places. Canada and Mexico will each host 13 games. Two of the semi-finals and the final will be held in the United States. The first game will take place at Mexico’s famous Azteca Stadium, which was the site of the 1970 and 1986 FIFA World Cup matches. Sunil Gulati, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, said he was confident that the host countries would work together to make the event a success. Overall, it’s still too early to tell how the sport will improve the areas after everyone works together.
