President Donald Trump on Thursday helped kick off the race to host the 2026 World Cup, tweeting his support for the United States’ joint bid with Canada and Mexico.
“The U.S. has put together a STRONG bid w/ Canada & Mexico for the 2026 World Cup,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “It would be a shame if countries that we always support were to lobby against the U.S. bid. Why should we be supporting these countries when they don’t support us (including at the United Nations)?”
The formal announcement of the North American bid was made April 10 at a press conference at One World Observatory in the World Trade Center in New York.
“We have the full support of the United States government in this project,” United States Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said. “The President of the United States is fully supportive and encouraged us to have this joint bid. He is especially pleased that Mexico is part of this bid — and that’s in the last few days we’ve gotten further encouragement on that.”
2018 FIFA World Cup will take place in Russia, but the US men’s national team will be watching from home. Falling 2-1 to Trinidad and Tobago, the US failed to qualify.
