World Cup 2026 in USA would ‘create £8bn profit for Fifa’

The vote will be held on 13 June, the day before Russia 2018 kicks off

The US hosted the tournament in 1994 at the Rose Bowl in California (Getty)

Fifa stands to earn more than £8bn profit from the 2026 World Cup being staged in North America rather than Morocco, according to organisers.

The joint bid by the USA, Canada and Mexico to host the tournament – the first in the continent since the US hosted it in 1994 – is projected to create £10.3bn in revenue, with US Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro claiming it would be “the most successful World Cup ever”.

However, their challengers to the tournament, Morocco, have received significant backing in recent weeks and submitted a 193-page document to Fifa in March detailing why they should be hosts.

The Morocco bid is expected to receive strong backing from Fifa’s African and Middle East countries, with France also planning to back them, but President Donald Trump warned against not backing the “strong” US bid last month.

Trump said: “it would be a shame if countries we always support were to lobby against the US bid. Why should we be supporting these countries when they don’t support us (including at the United Nations).”

Cordeiro said on Tuesday that he hoped Fifa members would forget politics when they vote for who will stage the finals next month.

“The question of who will host in 2026 has at times become mixed with geopolitics,” Cordeiro added. “We are asking that we be judged, not on the politics of the moment, but on the merits of our bid.”

The vote to award the tournament takes place on 13 June in Moscow, the day before the 2018 World Cup kicks off.