The united bid from the U.S., Mexico and Canada far outscored the Morocco’s 2026 World Cup bid in FIFA’s technical review of the hosts after inspections earlier this year, the Associated Press first reported on Friday.
The “United Bid” from North America received a score of four out of five while Morocco’s bid scored 2.7, including three aspects labeled “high risk” for the African nation.
Morocco received high-risk rankings in relation to stadiums, accommodation and transport, in addition to 10 issues of medium concern. In comparison, the U.S.-led bid had three issues of medium concern: in organizing costs, human rights/labor standards and government support, the latter issue being the only point on which Morocco scored better than the united bid.
Morocco deemed high risk in precisely the kind of categories — stadiums, accommodations, transport — that could easily make a World Cup a disaster: pic.twitter.com/WBQX6RbxYU
— Andrew Das (@AndrewDasNYT) June 1, 2018
The full report from FIFA can be found here.
Prior to Friday's report, there had been suggestions that Morocco’s bid could be disqualified from the 2026 World Cup bid process for not passing the standards FIFA had set forth. But the five-person panel has allowed the bid continue. FIFA will hold a vote of up to 207 member federations on June 13, the day before the 2018 World Cup begins in Russia.
The 2026 World Cup bid panel visited all three prospective host nations in April. FIFA sent a second group to Morocco after concerns arose over the technical aspects of the bid, primarily surrounding the proposed stadiums.
The Morocco bid (full details here) actually has a real chance to upset the united bid, with 33 nations already publically backing the Africans, including Qatar, Russia, France and Germany. This comes despite the fact the tournament could cost Morocco $16 billion and the nation’s anti-LGBTQ laws, which presents a human rights risk. But Donald Trump’s involvement could also be playing a role.
While the North American bid will be pleased with its high marks compared to Morocco in its 2026 World Cup bid, we all know anything can happen when it comes to FIFA. In 2010, Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup over the U.S. despite FIFA’s technical reports similarly rating the U.S. well above the Arabic nation.
We won’t know for sure who will host the first 48-team World Cup for 12 days.
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