USA, Mexico and Canada set press conference, expected to announce joint 2026 World Cup bid

USA, Mexico and Canada set press conference, expected to announce joint 2026 World Cup bid

Published Apr. 8, 2017 2:33 p.m. ET

The United States, Mexico and Canada have been working on a bid to joint host the 2026 World Cup, with CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani saying earlier this week that the three countries were "aiming" to put on the tournament together. Now, the three countries have set up a press conference for Monday in New York where they will make a "historic announcement."

While nobody has confirmed that the press conference will be to formally announce a joint 2026 World Cup bid, it appears as if that will the case.

The 2026 World Cup host won't be announced until May of 2020, but trying to put on a tournament across three countries is extremely complicated and the U.S., Mexico and Canada would be wise to use as much time as possible to work through all those difficulties. Those problems could be exacerbated by American president Donald Trump, who has promised a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and barred travel from certain countries. UEFA president Aleksander Cerefin has said that any travel restrictions could be a problem for any bid involving the U.S.

There is a widespread belief that the 2026 World Cup will be hosted in North America. By 2026, it will have been 32 years since the region hosted the tournament, and every other continent has hosted the World Cup in that time. Originally, it looked like the U.S. would be the likely host, however new UEFA president Gianni Infantino has pushed for more joint bids and Montagliani was an early supporter of a CONCACAF joint bid. That helped give legitimacy to a possible three-country joint bid, which FIFA said they would accept.

There is still more than two years until FIFA announces the host of the tournament, so a lot can change. For now, the U.S., Mexico and Canada haven't even officially said they will bid together, but they appear set to do so on Monday. And as soon as they do, they will immediately become the favorites to host the 2026 World Cup.

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