Mexico, Canada and US win joint bid to host 2026 World Cup a day before Russia 2018 kicks off

NORTH America has been accorded the rights to host the 2026 World Cup after Fifa voted by 134 to 65 in favour of a joint bid that will see the continent's big three hosting an enlarged tournament feat6uring 48 teams.

Just a day before the 2018 tournament kicks off in Russia, Fifa approved a proposal; for the US, Canada and Mexico to jointly host the 2026 World Cup. Qatar will host the next tournament in four years time and after that, the tournament will revert to North America, in line with Fifa's policy of rotating the event between Europe, the Americas and the rest of the world.

In 2016, the World Cup will be the biggest tournament ever held as it will involve 48 teams playing 80 matches over 34 days. This is in contrast to the 2018 World Cup kicking off in Russia tomorrow that will involve 32 teams.

US Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro said: "Football is the only victor and we are all united in football. Thank you so, so much for this incredible honour and thank you for entrusting us with this privilege."

Of the 211 Fifa member nations, 200 cast a vote at its 68th congress in Moscow earlier today, with the winning bid needing a majority of 104. Canada, Mexico, Morocco and the US were exempt, while Ghana was absent after the country's government said it had disbanded its football association amid allegations of widespread corruption.

Three US territories, Guam, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, were among the other member nations to not vote because it represented a conflict of interest for them. Both Mexico (1970 and 1986) and the US (1994) have previously hosted World Cups, while Canada staged the Women's World Cup in 2015.

Mr Cordeiro said what he described as the United World Cup will generate $14bn (£10.3bn) in revenue and make $11bn (£8.1bn) profit for Fifa.   Of the 16 host cities, 10 will be in the US, while the remainder will be split evenly between Canada and Mexico.

Overall, 60 matches will take place in the US, while Canada and Mexico will host 10 games each. In what will effectively be a US tournament, the final will be held at the 84,953-capacity MetLife Stadium, which is home to NFL sides the New York Giants and the New York Jets.

According to the details of the bid, the distance between the most northern host city (Edmonton) and the most southern (Mexico City) is almost 3,000 miles, compared with 1,900 miles at this month's tournament in Russia. For the first time ever, the 2026 tournament will mark the first time a World Cup has been shared by three host nations.

In 1994, the World Cup, staged by the US had the highest average attendance in the tournament's history, while Mexico was the first nation to host the event twice. Cone 2030, the tournament will revert back to the rest of the world, with the likes of China, Australia, Morocco and Nigeria likely to be contenders.