The United States, Mexico and Canada have officially submitted a joint bid for the 2026 World Cup.
The three CONCACAF nations are looking to bring the world’s biggest tournament back to North America for the first time since the United States hosted in 1994. It would also be the first time three nations have held the tournament together—the only other joint bid was the 2002 shared World Cup between South Korea and Japan.
This tournament will host 48 teams—up from the current format of 32 teams—which means there will be 20 more games than there are now. U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati announced more details.
Of the 80 games, 60 would take place in the United States and Canada and Mexico would host 10 apiece under the unified plan, according to Gulati, who also added that the bid had the full support and encouragement from United States President Donald Trump.
The biggest games would all belong to the United States.
Gulati: Proposal is starting in quarterfinals, World Cup 2026 would all be in USA.
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The United States will received the bulk of the tournament’s games, as expected—the U.S. is already CONCACAF’s go-to country, with so many immigrants living there—but there are complications.
Right now, the U.S. bans travel from six countries—none of which are soccer powerhouses, but could qualify under the expanded format. 2026 is nine years off, but what happens if that ban is still in effect? That could rule out the Rose Bowl—the host of the last U.S. World Cup final in 1994—as a final site.
The three-country host format also raises the question of who will automatically qualify. Usually, the host country is automatically included in the field, and the U.S. and Mexico tend to qualify without help. But will all three be included automatically? Even perennially bad Canada? That’s up in the air.
Asked if all 3 countries should get automatic bids to WC26, Gulati says there has never been a WC host country that hasn't played.
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Other potential bids include Colombia, Australia and New Zealand, and Morocco.
