Updated June 13, 2018 21:34:53

Photo: Officials celebrate after the announcement. (Reuters: Sergei Karpukhin)

The 2026 World Cup will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada after FIFA's congress voted on Wednesday to back the tri-nation joint bid for the tournament.

The North American bid beat the rival Morocco proposal, winning 134 votes to 65 for Morocco.

The 2026 tournament will be the first expanded tournament featuring 48 teams, up from the current 32-team tournament which begins in Russia this week.

Both bids were given a last chance to make their case with 15-minute presentations in front of congress at the Moscow Expocentre, where the north Americans pledged their tournament would generate an $US11 billion profit ($14.5 billion), while Morocco said theirs would make $US5 billion ($6.6 billion).

Although it will be the first tournament to be hosted by three nations, the vast majority of games will be held in the United States.

"Thank you for entrusting us with the privilege of hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2026," Carlos Cordiero, president of the US Soccer Federation told congress.

"Football today is the only winner."

The US hosted the World Cup previously in 1994 while Mexico hosted it in 1970 and 1986.

Canada has never hosted a men's World Cup but held the women's tournament in 2015.

Morroco have now failed in five bids to host a World Cup.

Reuters

Topics: soccer-world-cup, soccer, sport, united-states, canada, mexico

First posted June 13, 2018 21:03:03