INTO THE AMERICAS

WHAT WILL THE 2026 WORLD CUP IN THE UNITED STATES, MEXICO AND CANADA BE LIKE FOR FANS?

- By Mark Gleeson

The last time world football's governing body FIFA took the World Cup to the United States, they broke their own rules.

Keen to conquer a new frontier and, more importantly, untap new commercial opportunities, FIFA's executive committee voted to give the 1994 finals to the Americans, ahead of Brazil and Morocco, despite their own rule that a World Cup hosting country had to have its own professional league.

There was no league in the US at the time after the collapse of the North American Soccer League. Instead, FIFA imposed as a condition the creation of a professional soccer league. Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 and began operating in 1996, two years after the World Cup.

FIFA was desperate to make a breakthrough in a country where baseball, basketball, and gridiron football were king. Not that soccer was an unknown factor. Pelé had given the sport a massive profile across North America when he played for the New York Cosmos and at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles; the soccer tournament drew 1.4 million spectators - more than any other sport, including the blue ribbon athletics and swimming events.

Despite soccer's relative lack of popularity across the U.S., the tournament was the most financially successful in World Cup history. It broke tournament records with overall attendance of 3 587 538 and an average of 68 991 per game, figures that stand unsurpassed up until today, even though the size of the World Cup then was only 24 teams. Total profit was estimated at $1.45 billion because the cost of hosting was relatively low at $0.5 billion, thanks to existing infrastructure.