The World Cup hasn’t even started and America has already scored a winning goal.
The United States, along with Mexico and Canada, were chosen Wednesday to co-host the 2026 edition of the global sports extravaganza, after a vote by soccer’s governing body.
FIFA members picked North America 134-65 over Morocco in a show of respect to the financial and logistical might of the US-led “United Bid” for the cup.
“This is a great day for soccer, for football, a great day for North America,” US Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro said. “We’re very humbled by that.”
The announcement came a day before the start of this year’s World Cup in Russia for which the US did not qualify.
The victory for the US, which hosted the 1994 World Cup, came with an assist from President Trump, who assured FIFA that players from all countries would have no problem securing visas.
He also wrote in the bid that the US would host the cup “in a similarly open and festive manner” to previous Olympic Games held in America, according to CNN.
Trump celebrated the results of the FIFA vote by tweeting: “The U.S., together with Mexico and Canada, just got the World Cup. Congratulations – a great deal of hard work!”
The World Cup — which will be the first hosted by three nations and the first with an expanded 48-team format — will likely be a big win for the New York area.
MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford — which was lit up red, white and blue Tuesday night in anticipation of the vote — is expected to be rubber-stamped by FIFA as the site of the final game.
Mexico and Canada are each expected to host 10 games in three cities, while the United States will host 60 — and every game from the quarterfinals on — with FIFA whittling down a list of 17 US cities to 10.
This will be Canada’s first time hosting the World Cup and the third for Mexico, which held the extravaganza in 1970 and 1986.
While hosts have always received automatic berths, it’s not guaranteed for 2026, as three nations from one region are host. FIFA will make the final decision.
The win marks an eight-year comeback after the heavily favored United States’ bid for the 2022 World Cup lost to Qatar, a process that subsequently was revealed to be highly corrupt and bribery-riddled.
After investigations by the US Justice Department and other law enforcement bodies resulted in the arrest of numerous world soccer officials, FIFA overhauled the World Cup bidding process and made the voting totally open.
With no bag men and a June 1 FIFA technical report that heavily favored the United bid — scoring it 402 out of 500 while Morocco got just 275 — this time around, it was a landslide.
“Ten days ago we had a sense it was breaking our way,” said Cordeiro.
The quality of the US bid was too much for FIFA to overlook, though Trump’s comments about immigration and international relations gave a few voters pause.
“Trump’s comments hurt the bid more than they helped it,” German federation president Richard Grindel said, according to ESPN. “I criticized it. But the big majority shows that it had no influence.”