Bob Kraft and the New England Revolution moved the ball up the field in their quest to boost soccer and build momentum for a stadium in downtown Boston with yesterday’s FIFA announcement that the 2026 World Cup will be held in North America, with Gillette Stadium a likely venue.

Kraft was part of the three-nation team that won the 2026 bid, and has long aimed at both goals — elevating soccer in the U.S. market and putting his team in Boston.

“I really like our chances to get games here in Boston,” Revs President Brian Bilello told reporters yesterday, noting that this area already has the infrastructure in place to host games, even though plans are now focused on Gillette with its 70,000-fan capacity.

FIFA yesterday awarded the 2026 World Cup to the United States, Mexico and Canada. Boston is one of the 23 possible host cities on a list that will be whittled down to 16 across the three countries over the next couple of years, and Revolution officials and fans hope games in Boston would boost the popularity of a club that lags behind the city’s four major sports teams in popularity.

Kraft, the owner of the Revs and the Patriots, has been looking to build a soccer-only stadium around Boston for years. He’s eyed Somerville’s Inner Belt, various parts of South Boston and the area that’s now the South Bay Center in Dorchester. Most recently he was in talks with the University of Massachusetts Boston for the former Bayside Expo Center, but those discussions fell apart last year.

Kraft still wants to put a soccer stadium in Boston, spokesman Stacey James said yesterday.

“We remain focused on finding a location,” James said, though he declined to elaborate on any sites. He said the goal of building the new stadium is separate from the World Cup, though observers said they believe it will fuel the effort.

The 93-page World Cup bid from the United States, Mexico and Canada claims awarding the Cup to North America will create $11 billion in profits for FIFA and $5 billion in economic activity, and it will host the organization’s first 48-team tournament with 16 venues across the continent — with Boston vying to be one of the 10 U.S. sites.

“It’s pretty clear (FIFA) wanted the U.S. picked to continue to grow a massive and major market,” said Steve Gans, an attorney with Prince Lobel who worked on the successful 1994 bid for Boston to help host the Cup, the first and only hosted by the United States. “The 1994 World Cup had a tremendous effect in terms of growth of the game in this country. … The hope is once again it further propels interest in the state of the game.”

Bilello said the 1994 World Cup — hosted by the United States with some games played at Foxboro Stadium — did wonders for raising the popularity of soccer in this country, leading to the advent of Major League Soccer.

“There’s no way you can’t trace that back to ’94,” Bilello said. “The 2026 FIFA World Cup will only continue to elevate the sport to new levels and we’re excited about this remarkable opportunity to strengthen the soccer culture in New England as well as across North America.”

Hopes now are that 2026 will establish the sport as a fifth major professional team sport — up there with football, baseball, basketball and hockey. The U.S. has growing populations both of immigrants from soccer-crazed nations as well as homegrown fans who have been playing in youth leagues since the 1980s.

Fran Harrington, a founder of the American Outlaws U.S. soccer fan club Boston chapter and past president of the Revs fan club Midnight Riders, said 2026 could be a game-changer. The 1994 World Cup got many of his friends “hooked” on soccer, and 2026 could build on that for generations that are already primed.

Harrington said a Boston stadium would allow the populations that are bigger soccer fans, such as immigrants and young people, to more easily attend games.

“One of the bigger things holding the Revs back is playing in Foxboro,” Harrington said.

Ray Butler, owner of The Banshee bar in Dorchester, said he’s seen more Americans coming to watch soccer, usually Premier League games.

“Our demographic used to be a couple of Irish or English guys,” said the Irishman, whose bar for 20 years has been a popular local spot to watch soccer. “It’s mostly young American kids now.”

Herald wire services contributed to this report.