U.S. Soccer board split on joining Mexico, Canada for World Cup 2026 hosting bid
This week, Mexican soccer federation president Decio de María reaffirmed Mexico’s desire to bid for the hosting rights to World Cup 2026, either alone or co-hosting with another country like the United States. As for news on the U.S.’s potential bid for that World Cup, I’m told there’s a split on the U.S. Soccer board of directors between those who want the U.S. to host the World Cup alone and those who want to share hosting rights with neighbors Mexico and Canada.
The U.S. Soccer board does plan to address the issue at its December meeting. FIFA president Gianni Infantino has stated his support for shared World Cups in the future, especially once the tournament is expanded to include more teams. But some U.S. Soccer board members think the U.S. is big enough that it doesn’t need to share hosting duties in ’26.
Roadmap to Russia: The USA's 2018 World Cup qualifying Hexagonal task
The FIFA Council is slated to decide in January whether to expand the World Cup to 40 or 48 teams for the 2026 edition.
