Canada to officially host the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Canada will officially co-host 2026 FIFA World Cup matches.

The announcement was made on Wednesday morning at the 68th FIFA Congress, just one day before the opening of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Canada, along with the United States and Mexico, is part of the United Bid, trying to bring the World Cup back to North America for the first time since 1994. Their lone opponent was Morocco.

According to Canada Soccer, today’s vote marks the first time three nations have been selected to co-host a FIFA World Cup and the first time the FIFA World Cup will be played in North America in 32 years.

The world will unite in North America! #United2026 has officially won the right to host the @FIFAWorldCup!

🇨🇦🇲🇽🇺🇸 | https://t.co/jbld3pvI99 pic.twitter.com/iBhngny42b

— United 2026 (@united2026) June 13, 2018

“Hosting a FIFA World Cup is an extraordinary honor and privilege,” said Steven Reed, President of Canada Soccer and Co-Chair of the United Bid, in a statement.

“Canada, Mexico, and the United States are ready to welcome the world to North America and serve as stewards of the largest FIFA World Cup in history. Our vision is of a world of opportunity for our Candidate Host Cities and for the global football community.”

A monumental day for our sport. The #United2026 dream is now a reality.

Details » https://t.co/FPPnX9vNzn pic.twitter.com/hWl2xuknvR

— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) June 13, 2018

Canada, Mexico, and the United States will now jointly manage preparations for the massive events until FIFA establishes their operations to manage the competition. FIFA will also be making the final selection of host cities for the 2026 competition from the 23 candidates proposed in the United Bid.

With files from Rob Williams.

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