Mexico's Football Federation president Decio de Maria has reiterated his country's desire to bid for the 2026 World Cup. The country hasn't decided whether they will join the United States for a joint bid, but they will still enter the bidding regardless of whether they are with the Americans.
De Maria, vice president of Mexico's Olympic Committee, said that the idea of Mexico co-hosting in a 2026 bid was received well by the federation's executive committee in their last meeting.
"I don't know [whether we would pursue a joint bid] but the rules are already open to it," Mexican federation president Decio de Maria told ESPN. "What was agreed upon makes the path perfectly clear.
"Mexico will be in the hunt to host the 2026 World Cup."
FIFA still needs to set all the rules for 2026 World Cup bidding and prepare a timeline which they are expected to do so in the next year. Following that, bidding will be open and Mexico will submit their bid.
Gianni Infantino, the new FIFA president, is in favor of joint bids for so long. According to Fox Sports, he believes it's a way to get the World Cup into more countries, both because two countries can host a single tournament and it makes it feasible for countries that aren't big enough to host alone to have the tournament on their ground. Both United States and Mexico are clear with the latter problem, but the former does apply to them and any other countries.
As for the United States, it hasn't commented on a joint bid yet, stating that they are waiting to see the rules that FIFA puts in place before agreeing anything on a bid.
Meanwhile. Mexico will move forward with a bid to host the U-20 World Cup.
"We have had a bid ready for that event for a long time and are just waiting for the process to open in 2019," de Maria said.
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