The head of Concacaf has called on Fifa to ensure the 2026 World Cup is awarded to the United States, or another country in the region, after world football’s governing body fired the starting gun on the bidding process.

Following the chaos and controversy that enveloped the race for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, the Fifa secretary general Jérôme Valcke promised transparency “from the first minute of the process”.

Jeffrey Webb, the Concacaf president and Fifa vice-president, said that after the US controversially and acrimoniously missed out to Qatar in the final round of voting for the 2022 tournament it was time for the World Cup to come back to the region.

“It [football] is booming in North America, in the US. Definitely we’ve had expressions publicly from Mexico, from Canada and of course from the US,” he told BBC Sport. “When you look at the infrastructure that’s in the US, in North America, I believe there’s no infrastructure like this in the world, in any parts of the world. I believe the US could host the World Cup next year.”

Webb said he was reassured that the bidding process for the 2026 tournament would be “very transparent”. The tournament will be voted for by all 209 members at the Fifa Congress in May 2017, rather than by the executive committee as was the case in 2010.

“I believe from the onset everyone will know what’s at stake, everyone will know of course the requirements of the technical committee – what are their evaluation and assessments based on,” said Webb.

“And of course reports will be presented to the executive committee, shortlists will be made and then a presentation to the congress in 2017.”

Webb said the only confederations with a “legitimate claim” were Concacaf, which covers north and central America, and the Confederation of African Football.

“I think when you look at it the rotation policy is the best and most fair and equitable for the 209 member associations of Fifa. It’s unfortunate that rotation was stopped,” he said.

“I believe rotation is in the best interests of the game and I believe it should be returned. And obviously when you look at the stoppage of that rotation the confederation most affected by that was Concacaf.”

China could also launch a bid for 2026 but it is unlikely that the tournament will go to Asia following the first World Cup in the Middle East in 2022.