FIFA member soccer federations gathered to vote for the host country of the planet’s biggest football festival in 2026. The result is a consortium of three North American countries, including Canada, the United States and Mexico officially become the 2026 World Cup co-hosts.
They overtook Morocco with a ratio of 134-65 votes. This is the first time in FIFA history. hosting rights for the consortium of 3 countries.
Mexico twice hosted the World Cup in 1970 and 1986. The United States was the host of the 1994 World Cup. But for Canada, this will be the first time. They failed once in the race to host the World Cup in 1986.
It is also the only World Cup that Canadian football team can participate. But they lost all three matches and were eliminated from the group stage against rivals Soviet Union, France and Hungary.
Due to the host countries, FIFA has not officially confirmed that they will automatically be exempted from the qualifying round. However, with the tournament expanded from 32 to 48 teams.
The ability of Canada to participate is not small, whether kicked or not. As planned, Canada and Mexico are scheduled to hold 10 matches each, and the United States will take charge of 60 games.
But this is not the final decision. FIFA will select 16 cities to officially host matches in 23 candidate cities of 3 co-host countries. Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal are Canada’s three candidate cities.
According to estimates by the United States Football Association, the 2026 World Cup has the potential to contribute $ 5 billion to economies. That’s including the ability to create 40,000 jobs in 3 countries. However, Canadians turned to calculating the cost of a successful World Cup 2026.
Currently, Toronto’s BMO yard with a capacity of over 30,000 will need to expand. Similarly, although the courts in Edmonton and Montreal have a larger capacity with about 56,000 people per yard. Certainly expansion must also be done.
