2026 FIFA World Cup

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, an international association football tournament that is scheduled to take place in 2026. The tournament will involve 32 national teams, including that of the host nation, assuming the current format of the finals is maintained, but there have been suggestions to expand the tournament to 40 teams.^[1][2]

Host selection

FIFA announced on October 29, 2007 that it will no longer continue with its continental rotation policy, implemented after the 2006 World Cup host selection. The newest host selection policy is that any country may bid for a World Cup, provided that their continental confederation has not hosted either of the previous two World Cups. For the 2026 World Cup, this means that bids from Asia and Europe are not allowed.^[3][4]

FIFA formally allowed joint bids once more; they were previously banned in 2002 after the [5]

Confirmed bids

North America

•  Canada

In July 2012, Canadian Soccer Association president Victor Montagliani confirmed plans for a Canadian bid, saying: "We have verbally told FIFA that when the bid process begins for the next available World Cup, which would be the 2026 World Cup, that the CSA will be one of the countries putting in a formal proposal".^[6] Canada has hosted the men's 1987 Under-16 World Championship and the U-20 World Cups for both men and women, and is set to host the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2015 and the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. In October 2013, Montagliani confirmed Canada's intention to bid for the 2026 tournament.^[7] On January 23, 2014, the Canadian Soccer Association confirmed that it is bidding for the 2026 World Cup.^[8]

•  Mexico

In September 2012, Mexican Football Federation President Justino Compeán confirmed plans for a Mexican bid.^[9] Mexico has hosted two previous World Cups in 1970 and 1986. In October 2013, Liga MX President said that Mexico is interested in joining forces with the U.S. to co-host a bid for the 2026 World Cup.^[10]

South America

•  Colombia

In March 2010, Colombian President Álvaro Uribe confirmed plans for a Colombian bid.^[11] At the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup final, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said "Colombia is ready for a World Cup".^[12] Colombia was chosen to host the 1986 FIFA World Cup, but later withdrew. The country has since hosted the 2011 Under-20 World Cup and World Games 2013, and will host the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup. In July 2010, Peru also suggested co-hosting with Colombia and Ecuador, and President Uribe reacted positively, saying "every positive proposition has to be welcomed."^[13][14]

Potential bids

North America

•  United States

United States Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati stated the United States will only seriously consider going for the 2026 World Cup if the bidding process is more transparent and fair.^[15] During the 2014 FIFA World Cup, FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke said that he felt there was interest in the United States for hosting the 2026 Cup.^[16] FIFA President Sepp Blatter said, “Perhaps there’s a big commercial opportunity arising now in the United States because of the tremendous television audiences that are booming and that the World Cup has also encouraged in its domestic game as well. We did well with football when it first went to the United States but the opportunities are bigger now." ^[17] The United States hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Africa

•  Morocco

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Moncef Belkhayat, said to the French daily Le Figaro: "The African Cup of Nations 2015 will be the first indicator of our ability to host a great event. Then we can confidently consider us as a candidate to host the World Cup 2026".^[18][19] However, in November 2014, Morocco refused to host the African Cup of Nations due to the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.

Notes and references

FIFA World Cup Tournaments Uruguay 1930 Italy 1934 France 1938 Brazil 1950 Switzerland 1954 Sweden 1958 Chile 1962 England 1966 Mexico 1970 West Germany 1974 Argentina 1978 Spain 1982 Mexico 1986 Italy 1990 United States 1994 France 1998 South Korea/Japan 2002 Germany 2006 South Africa 2010 Brazil 2014 Russia 2018 Qatar 2022 2026 Qualification 1930 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 Finals 1930 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 Squads 1930 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 Seedings 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 Broadcasters 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 Bids 2014 2018 and 2022 2026 2030 Statistics All-time table Goalscorers top goalscorers finals goalscorers hat-tricks milestone goals own goals Penalty shoot-outs Player appearances Records Red cards Referees Team appearances Teams with no appearances Miscellaneous Awards Balls Broadcasters Economics History Hosts Mascots Official films Official songs Trophy Video games Notes: There was no qualification for the 1930 World Cup as places were given by invitation only. In 1950, there was no final; the article is about the decisive match of the final group stage.