The United States could consider making a bid to host the men’s 2038 World Cup, says the executive director of the White House’s World Cup task force.
The US are co-hosting the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico, with the tournament having been expand
ed from 32 teams to 48.
Fifa is considering expanding the format even further to 64 teams as early as 2030.
“When you think that this World Cup may at some point expand out to 64 teams, I think the United States can handle it,” said Andrew Giuliani.
“Let me make sure we get through this World Cup on 19 July before we make our pitch for 2038 or other ones.”
The 2038 World Cup is the next one for which a bidding process will take place.
The 2030 tournament will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco, while the opening three matches will be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay to mark the competition’s 100th anniversary.
The 2034 tournament will be held in Saudi Arabia.
In this summer’s World Cup, there have been a number of controversial issues involving the US, which is hosting 78 of the 104 matches.
In April, rights groups urged fans, players, journalists and other visitors to “exercise caution” if travelling to the US.
More than 120 organisations collectively issued a ‘travel advisory’ driven by what they said is “the Trump administration’s violent and abusive immigration crackdown”.
There has also been criticism of an increase in travel costs in the US during the World Cup.
Against the backdrop of the war between the US and Iran in the Middle East, members of Iran’s backroom staff were denied entry visas for the US. They subsequently switched their base for the World Cup from Arizona to Tijuana in Mexico, and face strict travel restrictions during their campaign.
Despite this, Giuliani says he has spoken to US President Donald Trump about America’s ability to host the World Cup again.
“There’s no better country that’s positioned to host a World Cup than the United States, and I think we’re seeing that on social media,” said Giuliani.
“I think we’re seeing that with all the fans that may be interacting with the US for the first time, or the first time in a long time, that the US truly is extremely welcoming, that we have such an incredible infrastructure.
“We have the stadiums built, so for the US, compared to other host nations, where it costs tens and tens of billions of dollars, you know, it cost us a couple of billion.”
He added: “It’s so wonderful to see the world’s love affair with the United States of America over our 250th birthday. It’s been very gratifying.”
-BBC
