Philadelphia has formally expressed interest in being part of the North American bid to host the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup, bid organizers and local officials announced Tuesday. It’s the first official step toward bringing the planet’s most famous sporting event here for the first time ever.
The United States, Canada and Mexico are bidding jointly to bring the 2026 tournament to the continent. Their only competition is Morocco, which announced its intention to bid last week.
Official bid documents are due to FIFA by March of 2018. The winner will be picked at the FIFA Congress in June of 2018, which will be held in Moscow ahead of Russia’s hosting of the World Cup.