Together with Mexico and Canada, the men’s national team of the United States will automatically qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
With a joint North American bid, the three nations were successful in winning the right to host the World Cup. Although this is the first time FIFA had to reserve three host bids, FIFA has typically granted host nations the right to compete in the World Cup without first participating in the customary qualification competitions.
In 2026, the competition will grow from 32 teams to 48. Three more spots will be given to CONCACAF countries through qualifying.
FIFA released a statement Tuesday saying, “In addition, the FIFA Council confirmed that, in line with the long-standing tradition of having all hosts competing at the FIFA World Cup, as well as sporting and operational considerations, the hosts of the FIFA World Cup 2026, namely Canada, Mexico and the USA, will qualify automatically for the final round of the competition, with their slots, therefore, being deducted from the overall allocation of six assigned to CONCACAF.”
Although the U.S. and Mexico typically make it into the World Cup, Canada’s men’s national team qualified for Qatar in 2022, ending a 36-year absence from the tournament. All three of Canada’s group stage matches were losses.
The FIFA Council also set a deadline for submitting bids for the privilege to host the 2030 World Cup, announcing that it will decide in 2019.
The FIFA conference to choose a host for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, which will take place first and be held earlier in 2024, will be independent from that one.
Three proposals have already been approved to host the event in 2030: a joint South American effort from Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile; a joint Spain-Portugal bid that last year included the conflict-torn Ukraine; and Morocco.
