FIFA judged Morocco’s 2026 World Cup proposals to be “high risk” in three areas and offered significant praise for the North American bid, which outscored its rival by a wide margin in an inspection evaluation report published Friday.
The joint bid from the United States, Canada and Mexico scored 402/500, while Morocco registered 275/500 and had proposals on stadiums, accommodation and transport flagged as high risks.
The 2026 World Cup is the first tournament FIFA has confirmed will expand from 32 to 48 teams – putting increasing demands on the stadiums and facilities required to stage 80 games.
“The amount of new infrastructure required for the Morocco 2026 bid to become reality cannot be overstated,” the bid evaluation task force said in a report published ahead of the June 13 vote by the FIFA Congress.
“The Morocco 2026 bid and United 2026 bid represent two almost opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to the nature of their bids.”