US Soccer ends 2018 World Cup bid to focus on 2022

US Soccer withdrew its bid to host the 2018 World Cup on Friday so that it can focus all energy on its bid to win the 2022 event, US Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said.

FIFA will select hosts for each event on December 2 in Zurich with England seen as the favorite for 2018, now assured a European hosts with Russia, Spain-Portugal and Netherlands-Belgium the other bidders.

This leaves the Americans, who played host to the 1994 World Cup, fighting for the 2022 World Cup against Australia, Japan, South Korea and Qatar.

“For some time, we have been in conversations with FIFA and (European federation) UEFA about the possibility of focusing only on the 2022 bidding process,” Gulati said in a statement.

“We are confident this is in the best interests of the USA bid.”

FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke welcomed the news that a European host was assured.

“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,” Valcke said.

“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.”

That appreciation is part of a calculation by US Soccer that officials hope will pay off in hosting football’s global showcase event with 12 years to prepare.

“We wanted to make the announcement now — still 48 days before the final decision — in order to make our intentions clear during the last part of our campaign,” Gulati said.

The move came ahead of FIFA’s executive committee meeting October 28 and 29 in Zurich to settle various items on the bids, including the final voting process for selection the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts.