Morocco football officials have announced that the country will make a bid to host the 2026 Word Cup.
The country’s football federation (FRMF) made the announcement on Friday, saying it had informed the world football governing body FIFA that it would hand in a bid to host the showpiece.
This would be the North African country’s fifth try at getting World Cup hosting rights, having failed in 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2010.
Other countries that have already shown interest in hosting the 2026 WC include the United States, Canada and Mexico, who said they would bid to host it jointly.
If successful, Morocco would then become Africa’s second country to host the World Cup, after South Africa hosted the 2010 edition.
The North Africans have already received backing from the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Ahmad Ahmad, who said he was “convinced” the country is ready to host a World Cup.
The 2026 tournament will be the first with an expanded 48-team tournament, up from the current 32 qualifiers.
FIFA earlier this year gave the green light for the expansion of the competition to include more teams.
48 teams will participate in the event as opposed to the current 32.
Morocco was scheduled to host the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, but pulled out at the 11th hour over concerns related to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa at the time.
The country has however since embarked on a professionalism drive to improve its football infrastructure while increasing its candidacies for various tournaments in order to improve its chances of landing a much coveted World Cup.
