The joint bid's venues would be selected from a total of 23 stadiums, including three each in Mexico and Canada.
ADVERTISEMENTThe U.S., Canada and Mexico will discover Wednesday whether their joint bid to host soccer's World Cup in 2026 has been successful.
A proposal by the three nations was formally submitted to FIFA, the sport's governing body, last week. It is competing against a bid from Morocco.
The 207 members of FIFA not involved in the bids will vote Wednesday in Moscow.
Branded United 2026, the North American bid's venues would be selected from among a total 23 stadiums that exist or already are under construction, including three each in Mexico and Canada. Sixteen of the U.S. stadiums are home to NFL teams.
The American cities that could potentially host games are:Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York/New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Washington.
Canada's venues would be in Edmonton, Montreal and Toronto, while the Mexican potential host cities are Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey.
Prior to the vote, FIFA's inspections report favored the North American bid, highlighting three "high risk" elements in Morocco's bid: stadiums, hotels and transport.
All 14 of the Moroccan venues would need to be built or renovated as part of the $16 billion investment in new infrastructure the African nation says is required.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino last week urged the voting federations to "look at the report" — seemingly a signal of the governing body's preference for the security and stability offered in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
But the North American bid also faced issues in the run-up to the voting. After President Donald Trump tweeted in April questioning whether the U.S. should "support" countries who didn't back the United bid, FIFA was forced to issue a statement reminding the U.S. of its rules on political involvement in World Cup bids.
One month earlier, several potential host cities — including Chicago, Minneapolis and Arizona — also dropped out over what local officials said were burdensome financial demands by FIFA.
And ex-FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who is banned from soccer roles for six years over financial misconduct, announced in February that he felt Morocco was "the logical host" for the tournament as co-hosting had been "rejected" by FIFA following the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
The United States also bid for the 2022 World Cup, and had been favorite to host that tournament, but lost out to the tiny Gulf state of Qatar at FIFA's congress in 2010.
Following concerns over the process that resulted in hosting rights being awarded to Russia for 2018 and Qatar for 2022, a more rigorous bidding system has been implemented, requiring candidates to produce — among other things — human rights strategies.
This year's World Cup kicks off in Russia on Thursday.