US, Mexico, Canada embark on World Cup history with winning bid
The World Cup is coming back to America in 2026.
The winning bid, also shared with Mexico and Canada, was announced early Wednesday.
Fox Sports COO Eric Shanks told FOX Business it’s a big win for soccer in North America.
“It’s a tremendous day,” Shanks told Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings with Maria” on Wednesday. “A lot of hard work has really paid off by U.S. soccer, [the] Mexican Soccer Federation and the Canadian Soccer Federation to bring it to all three host countries for the very first time in World Cup history.”
The 2026 soccer tournament, he said, will be the first World Cup to expand from 32 teams to 48 teams.
“It just made a lot of sense to accommodate and expand a tournament have all three countries host and really kind of spread the football love all around North America,” Shanks added.
Shanks is gearing up for this year’s tournament in Moscow, which will be broadcast in the U.S. by Fox Sports, and will take place in 11 cities across Russia.
The perennial favorites include the defending world champions England, France, Spain, Brazil, and Germany, he said.
For the first time in more than 30 years, the U.S. men’s national soccer team will not compete, after failing to qualify. However, Shanks expects soccer’s popularity to continue to grow in the U.S. within the next eight years.
The tournament kicks off Friday on Fox. They are also set to broadcast the upcoming tournaments in 2022 and 2026.
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