Cordeiro (c) said that the Trump administration has provided amazing support to the bidGETTY IMAGES
Ahead of this week's FIFA vote on the '26 World Cup host, U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro "conceded that it is impossible to know how the ever-changed atmosphere around President Trump will affect the voters and the countries they represent," according to Sam Borden of ESPN.com. Cordeiro reiterated that no federation has "questioned him directly" about Trump's administration or its policies. But the uncertainty surrounding politics is the "only significant wild card" in this race between the U.S.-led North American bid and Morocco. Cordeiro said, "Geopolitics is outside our terrain. And there's always risk." With Wednesday's vote being an "open ballot, there has always been the concern that how a country feels politically" about the U.S. "could affect how that country's federation president chooses to vote." Meanwhile, Cordeiro said that the Trump administration has "provided 'amazing' support to the bid, offering ironclad guarantees about visas, infrastructure and other details that were key to the United Bid receiving such dominant marks in FIFA's technical evaluation." The "magic number for victory" on Wednesday is 104 votes, and after several months of campaigning, Cordeiro "struck a confident tone" about the end result. Cordeiro: "I feel we have a path to victory." He added that he "believes there will be 'surprises' when the ballots are made public and everyone can see how widespread the United Bid's support runs" (ESPN.com, 6/10).
DEFINING HIS LEGACY: YAHOO SPORTS' Leander Schaerlaeckens wrote Wednesday's decision will "frame" former USSF President Sunil Gulati's legacy. To many, he will "either be the man who played a major role in bringing two men's and women's World Cups stateside but didn't always get the big coaching appointments right, or the man who enabled the fateful Jurgen Klinsmann era and failed to deliver" both the '22 and '26 World Cups. All that will "hinge on FIFA's vote." Gulati "wasn't in charge of the homestretch" of the joint North American bid after U.S. Soccer's "intricate network of members and voters picked his longtime right-hand man" Cordeiro to succeed him in February. While Gulati was still on the bid's BOD, Cordeiro, along with the heads of the Canadian and Mexican federations, "took the reins in March." That must make this a "strange moment" for Gulati, as he was "very much the driving force behind this bid" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/10).
