Trump turns to Nigeria and other African countries for support in US bid for 2026 bid

U.S. President Donald Trump greets Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari after a joint news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., April 30, 2018. [Photo: REUTERS]

President Donald Trump has called on Nigeria and other African countries to endorse the US-Canada-Mexico joint bid for the World Cup in 2026, tying it to US support for them.

“I hope all African countries and countries throughout the world, that we also will be supporting you, and that they will likewise support us in our bid along with Canada and Mexico for the 2026 World Cup,” Trump said in a White House Press conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday.

“We will be watching very closely, and any help they can give us in that bid we would appreciate,” he said.

The call comes as world football’s governing body Fifa prepares to choose between the US-led joint bid and Morocco’s at a vote in Moscow on June 13.

Trump appeared to tie the issue to trade, saying just ahead of his mention of the World Cup that the United States hopes “to be the economic partner of choice for nations across the continent and all around the world.