BREAKING NEWS: Morocco lose out on 2026 World Cup

Decio de Maria, co-chairman of the Canada,Mexico,United States 2026 FIFA World Cup bid and president of the Mexican Football Federation speaks during the presentation of the Canada,Mexico,United States 2026 FIFA World Cup bid at the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow, Russia, 13 June 2018. EPA/FELIPE TRUEBA

by Staff Reporter

Wednesday Jun 13, 2018. 13:45

Morocco have been defeated by a joint-bid from USA, Canada and Mexico for the hosting rights of the 2026 World Cup.

The 2026 vote was taken at the FIFA Congress held in Moscow today and the tournament was awarded to a join North American bid.

The 2026 tournament will be the second to be hosted across more than one country, following South Korea and Japan’s co-hosting of the 2002 edition.

Morocco were considered outsiders in the bidding process and were labelled “high risk” by FIFA because many of their proposed venues needed to be built from scratch.

By contrast, the North American bid already had virtually all of the infrastructure in place and aside from earning a higher rating by the FIFA evaluators, also promised a record profit for the tournament.

Only one round of voting was required at the Congress early this afternoon, with the North American bid receiving 134 votes compared to 65 for Morocco. One vote was cast in favour of neither bid receiving the tournament.

This is the fifth time that Morocco have bid to host the World Cup, and they have fallen short on each occasion.