U.S., Mexico and Canada could be getting 2026 FIFA World Cup

This rumour is supported by press releases from CONCACAF and the soccer governing bodies promising a “historic announcement”.

Victor Montagliani, the Canadian Soccer Association and CONCACAF president, was asked if the playing surfaces in Canada would be natural grass or artificial turf.

The FIFA Council agreed in January to expand the current the 32-country tournament to 48 teams split into 16 groups of three.

In that situation, our best guess is that eight of the groups will have their games played entirely in the United States, while four each would play their games in Mexico and Canada.

At a time when President Donald Trump wants to ban travel from certain countries, thrash NAFTA and build a wall across the country’s southern border, America’s soccer federation wants to do the opposite.

CONCACAF is in line to receive six qualification spots for the expanded World Cup, meaning only three automatic places would remain available if the US, Canada and Mexico are succesful. The U.S. has participated in 10, including the last seven tournaments. The World Cup also attracted a digital audience with 280 million fans that viewed games online and on mobile devices. Either they’re going to play a World Cup on crummy fields or tell on themselves and admit that they have lower standards for women’s soccer.

“We have very specifically addressed this with the president”, Gulati said of the Trump controversies. Federation Internationale de Football Association has said it “defined a set of principles for countries to bid” with new emphasis on human rights compliance and inclusion of only bidders that meet technical requirements. World Soccer’s Tim Vickery makes a case against blaming Argentina’s European-based players for their stalled World Cup qualifying campaign.

All bids will need to be submitted by the end of 2018, with a decision set to be made on the host or hosts in May 2020.

In a one-vote-per-nation system, Africa could mount a competing bid, especially if it allies with another confederation and both vote as blocs.

“What people need to realize is that the world of friendlies is going to change”, said Montagliani, “with Europe changing to the Nations League, it is going to get harder to get friendlies”.

Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and Moncton served as host cities for the 2015 Women’s World Cup – with Toronto electing to focus on the Pan-American games that summer.

“You sit there and just shake your head: Where is this thing going to go and why?” said former USA goalkeeper Kasey Keller, now an ESPN analyst. They have magnificent facilities that can host games, training facilities, teams and supporters.

No matter where they will be played, suddenly the opportunity of watching the world’s biggest sporting event in Canada no longer exclusively lives in our imagination.

Tigres and former El Tri head coach Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti seemed to suggest earlier on Monday that Mexico should try to host the 2026 World Cup on its own.