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From espn.com:
“The United States might not be participating in the World Cup, but it pulled off a historic victory in Russia all the same: The globe’s biggest sporting event is returning to the U.S.
In a long-anticipated vote on Wednesday, the joint bid of the U.S., Mexico and Canada defeated Morocco, its only challenger, as 200 national soccer federations cast their ballots to cap FIFA’s annual Congress.
“This is an incredible, and incredibly important, moment for soccer in North America and beyond,” said Carlos Cordeiro, the president of U.S. Soccer.
The 2026 tournament will feature an expanded field of 48 teams — the current field has 32 — and will mark the first time in FIFA’s history that a three-nation bid has been awarded the showpiece event.
The joint bid’s plans call for 60 of the 80 games to be played in the United States — including all matches from the quarterfinals onward — while Canada and Mexico host 10 apiece. The final is expected to be played at MetLife Stadium, just outside New York.
Bringing the World Cup to North America would produce staggering revenues of $14 billion, the bid predicted, and could mean as much as $50 million more in distributions to each member nation than if the alternative bid prevailed. Much of that, of course, comes from the well-established economy and corporate structure in the United States, which is already set up to handle all aspects of a massive event like a World Cup.”
Hey FIFA, not sure if you know, but Indy is the premier spot for hosting big sporting events. We’re growing as soccer fans, we’ve hosted the Super Bowl, which besides the Olympics and World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world. Oh, but wait a second, we forgot to mention the Indianapolis 500 happens EVERY year with over 300,000 people in attendance for a single day.
It’s easy, FIFA. Bring some matches to Lucas Oil Stadium in 2028. You won’t regret it.
