The US, Canada and Mexico are the hosts.
Gianni Infantino, the president of soccer’s governing body, FIFA, and his group have a major problem with the 2026 Men’s World Cup. One of the three host countries, the United States has slapped a 25 percent tariff on the other two host countries, Canada and Mexico and there will be retaliatory tariffs coming. That cannot bode well for a harmonious 2026 event. The other problem is the shift in geopolitical circles which has left the United States allies, or is it former allies, scrambling to put together a new alliance. There are other leaders around the world who are not pleased with events in Colombia, Panama and Denmark. Could the various nations who have and might qualify for slots in the 2026 World Cup decide, let’s wait for Morocco in 2030 to compete for the FIFA World Cup? Infantino may have a real problem on his hands.
Once upon a time, FIFA officials were dreaming of American greenbacks, Canadian loonies and Mexican pesos flowing into the business. Now FIFA is staring at an economic mess because of the trade wars that have erupted in North America. On April 10th, 2017, the United States, Canada and Mexico announced that the three countries would bid for the 2026 World Cup and President Donald Trump expressed support for the bid. FIFA waived its no co-hosting rule and awarded the event to the united bid on June 13th, 2018. Sixteen cities or markets hosting 2026 World Cup matches. Mexico will get three contests, while Canada gets two. Eleven American cities will host contests. FIFA has navigated through the Qatar Men’s World Cup and has awarded the 2034 Men’s World Cup to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but has not faced a situation before where one of the host countries has started a trade war against its two nation partners.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
