The joint bid of Canada, Mexico, and the United States on Wednesday won the rights to host the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
Known as “United 2026”, the North American bid defeated Morocco’s for Fifa’s showpiece tournament, garnering 67% of the votes cast during the selection process.
Fifa Secretary General Fatma Samoura, at the start of the selection process, announced that 203 of the world football governing body’s 210 members were eligible to vote.
Four bidders, along with three other member associations, had abstained from voting.
The United 2026 bid secured 134 votes, while Morocco’s proposal received less than half of the winning bid – 65 votes. While one member association abstained from voting during the final process, three invalid votes were cast.
Earlier, a Fifa technical committee report had classified the north African nation’s stadia, accommodation and transport as “high risk” and had awarded it a 2.7 on 5, while awarding the North American bid a 4.
Interestingly, this was Morocco’s fifth failed bid after 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2010, as they prepare to play in the 2018 edition after a gap of 20 years. The United States have previously hosted the tournament in 1994, but had lost out to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup in a shock result.
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