World Cup host Russian Federation spent billions, but will its economy benefit?

“We’ll get the team performing and we’ll qualify if we have to”, John Herdman told CTV’s Your Morning Wednesday, just about an hour after the announcement that the joint bid of Canada, Mexico and the United States had beaten Morocco to host the 48-team tournament.

The “United Bid” won the vote 134-65 over Morocco during a special congressional meeting where every single member nation of Federation Internationale de Football Association, excluding the four potential host countries, cast a ballot. “Thank you for entrusting us with this privilege, the privilege of hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2026”, an emotional US Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro said on stage after the vote. “Football today is the only victor, and in that spirit, we wish our Russian hosts and all the teams participating here this month, the very best of luck”. Under the United Bid proposal, the list of host cities for the world’s most watched sporting event likely will include two or three in Canada, three in Mexico and 10 in the United States.

The US hosted the World Cup in 1994, while the tournament was held twice in Mexico (1970 and 1986). Canada has never held the competition, but it did host the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

Fox, Fox Sports and Telemundo Deportes have US broadcast rights to this year’s tournament – for which the USA national team failed to qualify – and also for 2026.

Allied with that unpredictability came an unpalatable presence at the heart of the United bid – U.S. President Donald Trump.

The 82-year-old’s attendance at the World Cup could put him in close proximity to his successor, Gianni Infantino, who has sought to draw a line under past scandals.

And it’s great that this family has “a wonderful tradition” of gathering on the eve of the championship in the city where the opening match is to take place, Putin added. Morocco’s bid, for example, received vocal support from France and a large contingent of Middle Eastern and North African nations.

To cut down on travel, the US -led bid proposed having teams play all their games in the same regional areas. And the United committee’s bid packet is expecting the 2026 event to be even more lucrative, projecting a record $14 billion in revenue and $11 billion in profits.

There are two World Cup finals debutants this summer, Iceland and Panama, with the former faced with overcoming tournament regulars Argentina, Croatia and Nigeria, and the latter hoping to cause a major upset in Group G with Belgium, England and Tunisia.