U.S. Soccer withdraws from 2018 World Cup host consideration, will focus on 2022 bid efforts

The United States has withdrawn its bid to host the 2018 World Cup and will focus on efforts to stage the 2022 tournament, officials announced today. With FIFA, soccer's international governing body, expected to select a European bid for the '18 event, the move by the USA Bid Committee, first reported on the Insider Twitter page, was widely anticipated.

FIFA will choose the hosts for both World Cups on Dec. 2 in Zurich. England is the front-runner for 2018, with Russia posing the greatest challenge. Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium are also bidding. With a European nation assured of hosting that tournament, the United States is the favorite for 2022 in its competition with Qatar, Australia, Japan and South Korea.

"For some time, we have been in conversations with FIFA and UEFA [the European governing body] about the possibility of focusing only on the 2022 bidding process, an option we have made reference to many times," said Sunil Gulati, chairman of the USA Bid Committee and president of the U.S. Soccer Federation. "We are confident this is in the best interests of the USA bid."

FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said: "We have had an open and constructive dialogue with the USA bid for some time now, after it became apparent that there was a growing movement to stage the 2018 World Cup in Europe. The announcement by the USA bid to focus solely on the 2022 World Cup is therefore a welcome gesture, which is much appreciated by FIFA."

Next on FIFA's agenda: The 24-member executive committee will meet in Zurich on Oct. 28-29 to discuss the final voting process.

