FIFA WC USA-Mexico-Canada 2026

[Rob2012]

^^ Good post.

[baron-pierreIV]

Just look at 2020, for starters. I'm sure there's at least a couple of NOC's out there that are slapping themselves now that they didn't join the 2020 fray.

I don't know. Referring to Italy? The US? Even with Rome or Chicago in there, I think Tokyo still presented the most formidable bid and still would've won, Fukushima or not. If Japan had never HOSTED anything, was in great hock, then Tokyo's bid would've been vulnerable.

Besides, if all else fails, bring out the age-old GB justification -- it was a consolation prize for failing for 2016!

[Athensfan]

Honestly, I don't get the sense the US has bitter grapes about 2022. I think they're over it and sitting back and watching the drama. However, they're not going to repeat the process.

I still think the "new lands" point is fair and need not be tied to 2022. If FIFA has their heart set on ANY particular criteria, they should let it be known. They should spare the others who don't fit the criteria the trouble if bidding. It's a fair request.

[MrCatra]

The daytime matches were scheduled thus to accommodate the primetime viewers in Europe. If the organizers had they way, they were going to schedule them at night, but FIFA and the EUro networks said no.

As you could see in my post, I was not criticizing USA/organizers. Even if the LOC wanted games at 13pm on desert-like conditions only FIFA can be blamed for that.

Nonetheless, it created amazingly boring games. The most boring WC I've watched and considering the highlights I watched and the articles I've read, I'm sure it was the most boring WC ever.

[MrCatra]

I find it funny that you all are so sure Qatar brought the World Cup via bribery. No ifs and buts about it. It was just bribery.

But if the US had won, like they did in the past, then it'd be fair and square? lol. Oh the superior 1st worlders, can never lose a BID. I know, I know.

And I'm not saying there wasn't corruption involved with Qatar's BID, I'm saying that the suspicions about Qatar would also apply to any winner. Including the almighty/ethical countries of England and the US of A if they won 2018/22 respectively.

For example: English football, ruled by their Ethical FA, is inundated with dirty money from every ****-hole of the world and they do nothing about it. But no, no... Impossible! Such ethical fellas didn't even tried to bribe FIFA executives... Hahaha. They didn't even spent much on their campaign, right?

OMG. I'm not sure you guys are this naive or simply hypocrites. Or a combination of both.

[Gangwon]

It's not even about the bribery. It's just an insult to common sense. There's no people. There's no land. No football tradition. That's the bare minimum. You must have at least one of those 3.

[Quaker2001]

I find it funny that you all are so sure Qatar brought the World Cup via bribery. No ifs and buts about it. It was just bribery.

But if the US had won, like they did in the past, then it'd be fair and square? lol. Oh the superior 1st worlders, can never lose a BID. I know, I know.

And I'm not saying there wasn't corruption involved with Qatar's BID, I'm saying that the suspicions about Qatar would also apply to any winner. Including the almighty/ethical countries of England and the US of A if they won 2018/22 respectively.

For example: English football, ruled by their Ethical FA, is inundated with dirty money from every ****-hole of the world and they do nothing about it. But no, no... Impossible! Such ethical fellas didn't even tried to bribe FIFA executives... Hahaha. They didn't even spent much on their campaign, right?

OMG. I'm not sure you guys are this naive or simply hypocrites. Or a combination of both.

I'm surprised you didn't post here to tell us how FIFA is going to change the rules to allow Europe to bid for 2026 and that Argentina/Uruguay is a done deal for 2030. But I digress..

There's a difference between a country like England or the United States being involved in bribery and a country like Qatar blinding FIFA to the fact that they are not capable of hosting a World Cup within the parameters they bid for. There aren't just suspicions of corruption and bribery with Qatar. Yea, we're all so sure Qatar bribed their way to winning that bid because.. they did. Soon enough, this will become a proven fact. Pretty sure if England or USA had won, you could make a pretty good argument FIFA chose the best bid. Would there have been bribery involved? Maybe. I can understand them choosing Russia, but to choose Qatar over any country? How many times in the next 9 years is FIFA going to say how they screwed this up and that it was probably the worst decision in the organization's history. My guess.. a lot. If these organizations are all dirty, then let's see what happens when England or the United States wins a bid. Until then, we have Qatar, who DID bribe their way to winning a World Cup that they have no business hosting in the first place. Let FIFA live with the shame of that decision and let history remind us how their greed and stupidity left us with the worst World Cup in the history of the tournament, because that's what we're headed towards.

[FYI]

I don't know. Referring to Italy? The US? Even with Rome or Chicago in there, I think Tokyo still presented the most formidable bid and still would've won, Fukushima or not.

Yeah, Rome. But seeing how Chicago flatly rejected a 2024 prospect, I definitely don't think that they would've been involved for 2020. But I was mainly referring to Paris & maybe South Africa. I think one of those could've very likely taken it from Tokyo.

[Roger87]

I didn't say that the U.S. should've bribed too. But like Rob said, the issue I have is Gulati taking it outta context & throwing in about "new lands". If Australia had won, would he be coming out now is saying such a thing? I think not. Lets talk about why Qatar really won, cuz it wasn't really about them being a 'new land'.

Why should the IOC & FIFA limit themselves bcuz some don't wanna go against new frontiers now. I agree that FIFA needs to revise their process, but the IOC last month chose a traditional & repeat host over a "new land" that they felt uncomfortable with ATM. And 2022 looks very much like it could go the same way. When the 2016 race first started, no one really gave Rio the benefit of the doubt.

Competing is always a risk. And any potential bidders need to evaluate for themselves if the difficult & expensive endeavor is worth all the hard work. And apparently that's what the USOC is doing with analyzing a potential 2024 bid. It's no big secret that these organizations sometimes heavily favor new frontiers, so I don't see how blatantly spelling that out for them would make any difference, especially when one never really knows how the dynamics of any race will play out. Just look at 2020, for starters. I'm sure there's at least a couple of NOC's out there that are slapping themselves now that they didn't join the 2020 fray.

I agree with this. If the hosts came as Russia 2018 and Australia 2022, I have the certain that it wouldn't be a lot of fuss of that. Russia, albeit not being the "best" it was understandable decission -A new market with a long tradition in soccer and a compelling host-. Ditto with Australia. The criticism is came to Qatar, remarking before - It was an offense for the common sense. Even taking away the sense of honesty, the logic sense reigns. Are they stupid enough? This decission was controversial since the second 1 after the declaration of the winner and will live in the infamy and the judgement. So yes, they are stupid to pull off their business in jeopardy.

[intoronto]

The race is on: Canada continues to plan on bid for 2026 World Cup

TORONTO — By the time 2026 rolls around, it will have been 32 years since the CONCACAF region hosted the FIFA World Cup, and according to reports published on Wednesday, the president of the Liga MX believes a joint US-Mexico bid might be just the thing to bring the World Cup back to this part of the globe.

But another North American player already has its sights set on 2026: Canada.

“We’re the only G8 country that hasn’t [been selected to host] a [senior men’s] World Cup,” Canadian Soccer Association president Victor Montagliani told MLSsoccer.com this week. “Also, out of all the tournaments FIFA has, this is the only one that we haven’t [been selected to host.]”

While Montagliani (pictured, at left, with Canadian men's head coach Benito Floro) said there are “a lot of internal discussions yet to have” with various stakeholders, he confirmed – as first reported in July 2012 by CBC Sports – that the CSA is indeed planning to bid for the 2026 World Cup.

Recent events have suggested that Canada might be just the sort of host FIFA will be looking for when the next bidding process begins. The allegations of bribery and corruption in the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, and the reportedly poor human-rights records of both Russia and Qatar, could make voters more likely to consider a country with a less controversial reputation.

Neither Montagliani nor CSA general secretary Peter Montopoli wanted to speculate about what impact current events could have on future bidding processes when asked by MLSsoccer.com. But Montopoli did say that when it comes to Canada, FIFA has so far liked what it’s seen.

“We’re a welcoming country, and FIFA understood that [when considering bids for the 2015 Women’s World Cup],” Montopoli said. “Also, the multicultural mosaic of our country is very inviting to the world. … All we can speak to is what our country is. And if that’s the flavor that the rest of the FIFA member associations decide is inviting, then I guess that would bode well for us.”

Canada has plenty of experience hosting FIFA events, including the 2002 U-19 Women's World Championship and the 2007 U-20 World Cup (right), but its performance as host for next year’s U-20 Women's World Cup and the 2015 Women’s World Cup will presumably have a significant bearing on the chances of Canada 2026 becoming a reality.

However, Canada is using only four venues to host next summer’s tournament (Edmonton, Moncton, Montreal and Toronto) and six for the 2015 Women’s World Cup (adding Ottawa, Winnipeg and Vancouver; Toronto is unavailable due to hosting the Pan American Games).

The country has only four stadiums that meet FIFA’s size requirement (60,000 capacity) to host a World Cup match – FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke has been quoted as saying at least 12 venues will be required for future World Cups – and none featuring the capacity of at least 80,000 required to host the opening match and final.

While a significant investment in venues and infrastructure would be required for a Canadian bid to get off the ground, past experience in hosting FIFA tournaments and the Olympics suggests that there could be sufficient buy-in from national and provincial governments and the public to get things built.

So why would a Canadian bid succeed where the United States did not? Because FIFA has awarded four of the last eight tournaments to countries where the sport is still developing (United States, Japan/South Korea, South Africa, Qatar). Canada is still largely a new soccer frontier – despite strong interest in the game from coast-to-coast, there remains no nationwide professional men’s league.

“FIFA has a responsibility, as their motto says, to the world,” said Montagliani. “The World Cup, although it’s the No. 1 showcase in the world, FIFA also sees it as an opportunity to develop football in other parts of the world.”

“I think an event of that nature would galvanize the interest to unparalleled levels in this country,” Montagliani said later. “For us, it would be tremendous.”

Source

[dave199]

The race is on: Canada continues to plan on bid for 2026 World Cup

TORONTO — By the time 2026 rolls around, it will have been 32 years since the CONCACAF region hosted the FIFA World Cup, and according to reports published on Wednesday, the president of the Liga MX believes a joint US-Mexico bid might be just the thing to bring the World Cup back to this part of the globe.

But another North American player already has its sights set on 2026: Canada.

“We’re the only G8 country that hasn’t [been selected to host] a [senior men’s] World Cup,” Canadian Soccer Association president Victor Montagliani told MLSsoccer.com this week. “Also, out of all the tournaments FIFA has, this is the only one that we haven’t [been selected to host.]”

While Montagliani (pictured, at left, with Canadian men's head coach Benito Floro) said there are “a lot of internal discussions yet to have” with various stakeholders, he confirmed – as first reported in July 2012 by CBC Sports – that the CSA is indeed planning to bid for the 2026 World Cup.

Recent events have suggested that Canada might be just the sort of host FIFA will be looking for when the next bidding process begins. The allegations of bribery and corruption in the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, and the reportedly poor human-rights records of both Russia and Qatar, could make voters more likely to consider a country with a less controversial reputation.

Neither Montagliani nor CSA general secretary Peter Montopoli wanted to speculate about what impact current events could have on future bidding processes when asked by MLSsoccer.com. But Montopoli did say that when it comes to Canada, FIFA has so far liked what it’s seen.

“We’re a welcoming country, and FIFA understood that [when considering bids for the 2015 Women’s World Cup],” Montopoli said. “Also, the multicultural mosaic of our country is very inviting to the world. … All we can speak to is what our country is. And if that’s the flavor that the rest of the FIFA member associations decide is inviting, then I guess that would bode well for us.”

Canada has plenty of experience hosting FIFA events, including the 2002 U-19 Women's World Championship and the 2007 U-20 World Cup (right), but its performance as host for next year’s U-20 Women's World Cup and the 2015 Women’s World Cup will presumably have a significant bearing on the chances of Canada 2026 becoming a reality.

However, Canada is using only four venues to host next summer’s tournament (Edmonton, Moncton, Montreal and Toronto) and six for the 2015 Women’s World Cup (adding Ottawa, Winnipeg and Vancouver; Toronto is unavailable due to hosting the Pan American Games).

The country has only four stadiums that meet FIFA’s size requirement (60,000 capacity) to host a World Cup match – FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke has been quoted as saying at least 12 venues will be required for future World Cups – and none featuring the capacity of at least 80,000 required to host the opening match and final.

While a significant investment in venues and infrastructure would be required for a Canadian bid to get off the ground, past experience in hosting FIFA tournaments and the Olympics suggests that there could be sufficient buy-in from national and provincial governments and the public to get things built.

So why would a Canadian bid succeed where the United States did not? Because FIFA has awarded four of the last eight tournaments to countries where the sport is still developing (United States, Japan/South Korea, South Africa, Qatar). Canada is still largely a new soccer frontier – despite strong interest in the game from coast-to-coast, there remains no nationwide professional men’s league.

“FIFA has a responsibility, as their motto says, to the world,” said Montagliani. “The World Cup, although it’s the No. 1 showcase in the world, FIFA also sees it as an opportunity to develop football in other parts of the world.”

“I think an event of that nature would galvanize the interest to unparalleled levels in this country,” Montagliani said later. “For us, it would be tremendous.”

Source

A ton of investment in infrastructure would obviously be required for this bid to go anywhere. This would be one gigantic price tag. If the CSA gets financial committments from the government and finally establishes a Canadian Soccer league then I can see this coming to fruition. There's a lot of potential for Soccer in this country, it just never got the proper investments and a home grown league would definitely help develop Canadian talent.

[Faster]

Canada will never have its own league. The best we will have is MLS teams in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

[intoronto]

Canada will never have its own league. The best we will have is MLS teams in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

Ottawa and Calgary don't have teams in the MLS.

Edmonton and Ottawa are in the NASL one step below the MLS>

[Rob2012]

Yes, if Canada is to host the absolute minimum requirement should be the same one that was applied to the US in '94 - setting up a football league. I mean, even Qatar has its own domestic league! A monumental decision to award a World Cup to Canada should be met with that committment from Canada's side, otherwise where's the development of the game going to come from?

[Faster]

Ottawa and Calgary don't have teams in the MLS.

Edmonton and Ottawa are in the NASL one step below the MLS>

See the wording 'will have' implying a future tense.

Yes, if Canada is to host the absolute minimum requirement should be the same one that was applied to the US in '94 - setting up a football league. I mean, even Qatar has its own domestic league! A monumental decision to award a World Cup to Canada should be met with that committment from Canada's side, otherwise where's the development of the game going to come from?

With teams already in MLS from our 3 largest cities, and cities 4 and 6 trying to get an MLS team at various stages, there will not be a way a domestic league could be set up. Pretty much once Toronto was awarded an MLS franchise, that ship sailed.

[yoshi]

Canada (& possibly China) is different in that women's football is significantly bigger than the men's game. In terms of pure men's footballing tradition, Canada probably isn't that much better than Qatar. IMO, Canada should go for a Toronto summer Olympics before a WC. As Rob says, a Canadian WC would be massively expensive. It would be cheaper, & more feasible, to go for the SOG for Toronto.

[intoronto]

See the wording 'will have' implying a future tense.

With teams already in MLS from our 3 largest cities, and cities 4 and 6 trying to get an MLS team at various stages, there will not be a way a domestic league could be set up. Pretty much once Toronto was awarded an MLS franchise, that ship sailed.

I originally thought that was what you were implying.

[ofan]

Canada has a domestic championship, which I think is good enough. There's no way that a domestic league could be created that would not be overrun by Major League Soccer or the USL. It's sort of similar to how an NFL team in Toronto would almost certainly destroy the CFL. The professional soccer system in North America (Canada/USA) is already pretty well established. No point in shaking it up.

[intoronto]

Canada has a domestic championship, which I think is good enough. There's no way that a domestic league could be created that would not be overrun by Major League Soccer or the USL. It's sort of similar to how an NFL team in Toronto would almost certainly destroy the CFL. The professional soccer system in North America (Canada/USA) is already pretty well established. No point in shaking it up.

The CFL would survive without Toronto, however.

[ofan]

The CFL would survive without Toronto, however.

Haha, so true. The Argos have maybe the worst fanbase in the league.

[stryker]

So the head of La Liga Mexico has proposed a joint US-Mexico WC bid. Seems like that would be too spread out.

[MrCatra]

1 - I'm surprised you didn't post here to tell us how FIFA is going to change the rules to allow Europe to bid for 2026 and that Argentina/Uruguay is a done deal for 2030. But I digress..

2 - There's a difference between a country like England or the United States being involved in bribery and a country like Qatar blinding FIFA to the fact that they are not capable of hosting a World Cup within the parameters they bid for. There aren't just suspicions of corruption and bribery with Qatar. Yea, we're all so sure Qatar bribed their way to winning that bid because.. they did. Soon enough, this will become a proven fact. Pretty sure if England or USA had won, you could make a pretty good argument FIFA chose the best bid. Would there have been bribery involved? Maybe. I can understand them choosing Russia, but to choose Qatar over any country? How many times in the next 9 years is FIFA going to say how they screwed this up and that it was probably the worst decision in the organization's history. My guess.. a lot. If these organizations are all dirty, then let's see what happens when England or the United States wins a bid. Until then, we have Qatar, who DID bribe their way to winning a World Cup that they have no business hosting in the first place. Let FIFA live with the shame of that decision and let history remind us how their greed and stupidity left us with the worst World Cup in the history of the tournament, because that's what we're headed towards.

1 - Nope because I already posted here you people are wrong. Continental rotation ended years ago. and yeh, 2030 = Argeguai. Just like 2022 was going to Qatar no matter what and I wrote this here before. You people simply don't know how FIFA works.

2 - It's funny how the Internet works. Can you prove that Qatar bribed FIFA executives? Nope, right? But yeh, it's a "fact" they bribed FIFA executives.

They most likely did, just like other Bidding nations - most likely - did as well.

[Quaker2001]

1 - Nope because I already posted here you people are wrong. Continental rotation ended years ago. and yeh, 2030 = Argeguai. Just like 2022 was going to Qatar no matter what and I wrote this here before. You people simply don't know how FIFA works.

That's right, we forgot, FIFA doesn't have a rule saying that the previous 2 hosting confederations aren't allowed to submit a bid. Oh wait.. that's right, you can predict the future where that rule has been abolished since it very much exists now.

2 - It's funny how the Internet works. Can you prove that Qatar bribed FIFA executives? Nope, right? But yeh, it's a "fact" they bribed FIFA executives.

They most likely did, just like other Bidding nations - most likely - did as well.

Considering all the allegations against FIFA throughout this process, perhaps it's telling that Blatter and company have refused to deny these allegations and have gone so far as to basically call Qatar's win a mistake. And that there's going to be all sorts of investigations that, I'm pretty sure, will eventually prove that Qatar had no business winning this bid, regardless of who else they were going up against or who else might have bribed FIFA excecutives. Which is why it continues to amuse me that you think you can predict the winning host of the World Cup to be held 17 years from now as if nothing can happen in the next decade or so before that World Cup is awarded to change the outcome. Because FIFA is all about sentimentality and awarding the World Cup to a host because of a centennial and isn't influenced by bribery and other shady interactions.

[FYI]

How does a sliver of a nation, that was FAR from meeting FIFA's OWN technical requirements, & with buckets of cash to throw around, not have 'bought' the WC!

[Quaker2001]

How does a sliver of a nation, that was FAR from meeting FIFA's OWN technical requirements, & with buckets of cash to throw around, not have 'bought' the WC!

I think Catra is looking at us dumb Americans and apparently wondering how we can accuse another nation of bribery as if that doesn't go on here. Because, you know, it's really all the same.. a nation of more than 300 million people with dozens of stadiums available to use versus a nation of a little more than 2 million people with no need whatsoever for what they're offering to build for FIFA. Makes you wonder if Brazil wouldn't have thrown around a few bribes if they actually had to go up in a vote against actual competition.