Why are England ineligible to host the 2026 World Cup Finals?

Answer 1

Because FIFA currently operate a policy that a winning confederation (basically continental zones) cannot host the subsequent two world cups.

Russia, a member of UEFA have won the right to stage the 2018 world. So no other UEFA member, incluing England, can consider hosting the 2022 (Qatar) or 2026 (TBC) events.

Similarly, the 2026 event cannot be hosted by a member of the Asian confederation.

So bidders for 2026 will come from effectively the North American, South American, African or Oceania federations. The recency of Brazil 2014 will effectively eliminate South America. By then there will be a 20 year gap from the tournament having been played in Western Europe (Germany 2006) and 16 years since it went to Africa. So a substantial Moroccan bid could be irresistible to FIFA. Two birds with one stone effectively. Only one serious threat to such an approach could arise. North America.

Mexico are not a player in this having hosted the event twice already. The US have the power, and FIFA want to develop that market. However, a bid from Canada could be more easy to sell. A new frontier, and in the US back yard. Again a double whammy.

2030 is the World Cup's centenary, and there is likely to be heavy nostalgic reason for taking the tournament back to its roots, Uruguay, with the support of Argentina. It may even be detrimental for federations to bid against the nostalgia! There is an argument to say Morocco have a great chance in 2026 if Uruguay/Argentina is a sentimental done deal, as rotating world cups from south to north America wouldn't be popular.

So 2034 seems the first realistic hope for Europe to host again. England is likely to be up against China and will FIFA be able to resist that soccer frontier?

All this probably means England are likely to be competing against North America for the 2038 world cup. And if they lose out they'll probably have a chance in 2042, but Holland will be even more annoyed that they've never had the chance to host a world cup by then.

All in all, there may be a few chances to mount a serious bid over the years to come. But, depending on the success of FIFA's clear expansion policy, England could be in the bidding wilderness for a very long time!