Edmonton is now officially one of three candidate host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Amarjeet Sohi, federal minister of infrastructure and communities, announced Friday.
There are 23 cities in Canada, the United States and Mexico willing to host some of the 48 teams expected to compete in the international tournament, which runs every four years, says Canada Soccer.
The federal government has so far contributed $5 million in funding to support the Canadian bid.
“This is a two-staged approach, the first stage is to provide the necessary support to be successful in winning the bid,” said Sohi, adding it’s too early to say how much the feds would contribute should the North American “United 2026” bid beat out Morocco to host the tournament.
FIFA will announce the winning bidder June 13. Once a winner is picked, FIFA will choose 16 of the 23 prospective cities to accommodate the matches.
Vancouver dropped out of the United 2026 bid on Wednesday after the province of British Columbia and the bid committee failed to reach a financial agreement.
‘Great soccer city’
Sohi joined Steven Reed, president of Canada Soccer and co-chair of the United 2026 bid committee, and Ward 10 city councillor Michael Walters for the Friday morning announcement.
“Edmonton is truly a great soccer city,” said Walters. “There are over 25,000 children and youth registered in soccer here in the city.”
He noted that the province has so far not backed the bid for the event but lobbying will continue.
“The door is not closed but there is some hesitancy,” said Walters. “Ultimately, if we’re going to be left on the hook for full costs as we get closer to knowing that’s not something we’d be comfortable with. But we feel confident we’re going to be able to pull it out. ”
Reed also expressed his confidence in the bid moving forward, but admits he was surprised when the province expressed their reservations to support the bid.
“It wasn’t something that overly concerned us because we’re confident with the city of Edmonton and what they’ve done to date,” said Reed. “We’re very confident in their ability to engage with the province of Alberta as they have done in the past to bring events to the city and the province.”
Ultimately, Reed says hosting the games would be a huge win for Edmonton, and Canada.
“We are the only G7 country to not host the men’s World Cup,” said Reed, adding “It’s our time.”
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