September 7, 2017 - The City of Phoenix is one step closer to becoming an official 2026 World Cup host city. 

Last month, the United Bid Committee of the United States, Mexico, and Canada reached out to 44 host cities and all but three responded (Calgary, Green Bay, and San Diego). 

The good news is that Phoenix responded and the city is one of 32 cities in the U.S. vying for a chance to host a match or matches if the 2026 World Cup is awarded to the joint U.S., Mexico, and Canada bid. There are six cities in Canada and three in Mexico also in consideration. Previously, the United Bid Committee announced that Canada and Mexico will host 10 matches each. 

From this new list, the bid committee will include 20-25 venues in its final bid to FIFA with at least 12 of these cities selected as host cities, of which FIFA will have the final say. 

The bid committee will now review all submissions and they will release a shortlist later this fall. The committee will submit its final bid to FIFA by March 16, 2018. 

The only thing left to do it to keep those fingers crossed that Phoenix will be one of those 20-25 cities.