Philly makes cut for U.S. bid to host future World Cup
Philadelphia is one of 18 cities still standing after the USA Bid Committee narrowed its list of possible venues for submission to world governing body FIFA, in hopes of obtaining either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.
Philadelphia is one of 18 cities still standing after the USA Bid Committee narrowed its list of possible venues for submission to world governing body FIFA, in hopes of obtaining either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.
Yesterday at ESPNZone in New York City, U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati announced Lincoln Financial Field made the cut along with stadiums in the foillowing areas: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York/New Jersey, Phoenix/Glendale, San Diego, Seattle, Tampa and Washington, D.C.
The Linc, which seats 68,594, opened in 2003 with a friendly between European soccer giants Manchester United and Barcelona. Since then, the site has played host to the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2003 and last summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The list of possibles will drop to a final number of 12 sites when the bid committee submits its final cut to FIFA by May 14. Other countries submitting bids for 2018 and 2022 are: Australia, England, Japan, Russia, and joint bids from Belgium and the Netherlands and Spain and Portugal. South Korea, Indonesia, and Qatar have submitted bids to host in 2022.
- Kerith Gabriel