FIFA World Cup: Following Bid Loss, the United States Should Win the 2026 Cup

Following nearly two years in which they went around the world to spread their message, the United States left Zurich disappointed after losing out on the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar.

The US went to the final round of voting against the Qatari bid, but lost 14-8 in the final round of voting.

After finding out that they didn't win the right to host the 2022 World Cup, United States Soccer was faced with the realization that they will not be able to host the greatest football tournament on Earth in 12 years time.

However, this is the perfect opportunity for the United States to come together and put together a bid for the 2026 World Cup.

Immediately after finding out the result, many people inside of the United States (and around the world) became upset that a nation that is smaller than the state of Connecticut could host the World Cup.

But instead of just accepting defeat, US Soccer has already implied that they will focus on winning the 2026 World Cup, with US Soccer President Sunil Gulati pondering a 2026 bid after getting eliminated.

Of course, 2010 World Cup host South Africa had a successful bid for this year's World Cup after failing to win the 2006 World Cup by a 12-11 vote to Germany.

Looking ahead to the 2026 World Cup, the United States will not face any competition from China, India or Australia thanks to the rule that forbids a confederation from hosting two consecutive World Cups.

In all likelihood, the most likely African bid (should there be one) would be from Morocco, who has been trying for years to host a World Cup.

In Europe, England and Spain will both express interest in bidding, but following FIFA's recent action to wait 12 years between Germany 2006 and Russia 2018, it is unlikely that FIFA will go back to an eight year rotation between a European nation and a country outside Europe before returning World Cup rights to a European nation.

With South America, Colombia has expressed interest in hosting, but with Brazil hosting the World Cup in 2014, South America will probably not host the World Cup in 2026.

That leaves North America with two potential hosts: Mexico and the United States.

Mexico has already hosted two World Cups (1970 and 1986), and submitted bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

However, Mexico withdrew their bid in September of 2009 due to the global recession.

In Mexico's bid, they planned to have many new stadium's constructed by time they would host a World Cup.

But with FIFA seeing many new stadium's constructed for Qatar and their incredible cost (plus issues that will arise over the working hours for stadium workers), FIFA will want to avoid having a large amount of stadiums constructed again for a World Cup.

Instead, FIFA should actually try to get their most stable bid in terms of infrastructure since the 2006 World Cup in Germany and give the 2026 World Cup to the United States.

For the United States bid to host the 2022 World Cup, America used the slogan "The Game Is In Us" and over one and a half million people signed the petition to bring the World Cup to the United States.

And now with the the loss of the 2022 World Cup bid, now is the time to show the world that America wants to host the 2026 World Cup.

Even though we probably will not know who wins the bid for about eight years, Americans can show that they want to host the host the World Cup in 2026 by making their voices heard and continuing their support of MLS and the United States national team.

By continuing to show the support that United States fans have for their national team and MLS, the United States Soccer Federation will certainly make another attempt to host a 2026 World Cup that is arguably easier to win than the 2022 World Cup.