Rabat - Member of Russia’s Football Federation Pyutr Barkalov has officially expressed his country’s support for Morocco’s 2026 World Cup bid.

Rabat – Member of Russia’s Football Federation Pyutr Barkalov has officially expressed his country’s support for Morocco’s 2026 World Cup bid.

Barkalov has echoed remarks made by Russia’s Ambassador to Morocco Valery Vorobiev, who said on Saturday that his country believes that Morocco’s bid is “the best” to host the tournament in 2026.

The Russian official said that “Morocco has considerable assets that can allow it to challenge the United States, Mexico, and Canada.”

“Given the close relations between our two countries, we will vote for Morocco,” he added.

On Saturday, Vorobiev said during a conference on Russia’s preparations to host the upcoming world tournament held by the Russian embassy in Rabat that “objectively, the three candidate countries are weak in football, we all know the American, Mexican, and Canadian football. [It is] not real football.”

He added that the 2026 World Cup in Morocco will be beneficial for many countries, including African, Middle Eastern, and European countries as the kingdom is only 14 kilometers away from Europe, “which is good for [football] fans.”

The Moroccan bid is gaining more support and confidence; the country has received international support from several countries, including Algeria, Tunisia, Botswana, and Nigeria.

President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Ahmad Ahmad has supported the Moroccan bid since Morocco expressed its desire to host the world premier event. Other members of CAF also expressed their support for Morocco’s bid on sidelines of the recent African Nations Championship, which took place in Morocco.

Morocco officially submitted its bid book to FIFA on March 15.

In addition, France, Serbia, and Luxembourg recently expressed their unwavering support for the bid, with Qatar reaffirming its positive stance on the application.

Two hundred eleven international football federations will vote for their favorite bid in Moscow on the eve of the launch of 2018 World Cup in Russia on June 13.