The United States, Mexico and Canada remain united in a bid to land the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But there has been a shuffle in the leadership.
Recently elected U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro, along with Canadian Soccer Association president Steven Reed and Mexico Football Federation head Decio De Maria are leading the charge as co-chairmen, according to a newsletter released on www.United2026.com on Tuesday. The three replace former U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati, who previously served as the lone chairman of the bid. De Maria is set to leave his post as the president of the Mexican federation after the World Cup, with Yon de Luis taking over his post.
Gulati, who didn’t seek election for a fourth term following the US men's national team's failure to qualify for this summer’s World Cup, was at the head of the joint effort to bring the World Cup back to the United States.
But apparently that has changed with Cordeiro, who was elected USSF president Feb. 10, replacing Gulati, who remains on bid's Board of Directors.
With Morocco believed to be the biggest challenger, the co-chairs spoke of a unified front, with a “multi-cultural, multi-lingual football ethos” as one of their bids’ biggest strengths.
“Stability, certainty, resources, world-class facilities and experience needed to successfully host the new, expanded FIFA World Cup,” which will go from 32 to 48 teams, and “unrivaled commercial success” and “record ticketing revenue” were also listed in the newsletter.
The winning bid will be announced in Moscow in just under 100 days.
