USA's bid to host World Cup could get stronger if FIFA expands tournament

The United States hasn't committed to bidding on the right to host the 2026 World Cup, but the expectation is that they will put themselves forward as a host and that they will be the favorite when they do. Their bid may get stronger if FIFA decide to expand the World Cup to 40 or even 48 teams, too.

One of the reasons that the U.S. has such a strong bid and many see them as the favorite going forward is the number of huge stadiums already built in the country. They could easily take on a World Cup and host the matches entirely in already-built stadiums without an issue. The problem would be deciding which stadiums would host matches, not finding or building the stadiums.

An expanded World Cup field, with even more matches, could potentially require more stadiums. Right now, rules require hosts to put on the tournament in 10-12 stadiums. A 40- or 48-team World Cup may make 12 stadiums a requirement, or even more. That would increase costs for most countries, almost all of whom would have to build or significantly renovate venues for a World Cup. It might also push the number of stadiums needed for the tournament beyond what a country could realistically support, knocking them out of the bidding altogether. That will not be a problem for the U.S. at all. They're more prepared for such a change than anyone else.

FIFA will decide on expanding the World Cup beyond the current 32-team format in January, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino supporting a larger field. CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani said that he doesn't have any issue with an expanded World Cup and that it wouldn't impact anyone from the confederation's bid.

"From a 2026 perspective, pick a number (of finalists) and North America can handle it," Montagliani said. "A CONCACAF bid would be strong regardless of what number we finally set on."

CONCACAF has not settled on which country from the confederation will bid on the 2026 World Cup. Mexico and Canada have both expressed interest, with the U.S. presumed to also submit a bid.

It's unclear who else would challenge a CONCACAF bid. No South American or African countries have outlined clear plans to bid yet and Europe will have just hosted the 2018 World Cup in Russia. There are rumblings that China may bid, but FIFA has shied away from letting the same continent host consecutive tournaments, which would be the case with Qatar hosting in 2022.

Montagliani said that he believes it's important FIFA continues to rotate the tournament and not go back to the same continents in consecutive World Cups.

"There has to be some sort of rotation or else you look what is happening with the Olympics," said Montagliani.

South Korea is playing host to the 2018 Winter Olympics, with Japan hosting the 2020 Summer Games before the Winter Olympics go to China in 2022.

"I don't think it's a good thing that it keeps on going to one area. It's not a World Cup that belongs in one region. So I think some sort of rotation needs to occur because the World Cup belongs to the world and we need to respect that."

Montagliani is obviously biased in his statement as he angles to have his confederation host the 2026 World Cup, be it in the U.S. or even Mexico or Canada. But FIFA has formalized a rule against the same continent hosting consecutive World Cups before so they clearly have taken a stand against it before and they haven't awarded back-to-back World Cups to the same continent since 1964 and 1958, when Sweden and Switzerland hosted. That's the only time in the history of the tournament that the World Cup was played on the same continent back-to-back.

The U.S. bid for 2026 looks exceptionally strong already. The desire to move the tournament around -- CONCACAF last hosted the World Cup in 1994, when the U.S. hosted -- opens the door for someone from the region and the U.S. figures to be the favorite from North America. They simply have too much to offer, including the potential for huge revenues because of the multitude of already-built stadiums. Those stadiums loom even larger if the tournament is expanded.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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