The soccer federations of the United States, Mexico and Canada announced plans Monday for an unprecedented three-nation bid to host the 2026 World Cup, an effort that, if successful, would bring the globe’s most prestigious sporting event back to North America for the first time since 1994.

The announcement was made with much fanfare at a stunning location, the 102nd story observatory of One World Trade Center with views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline.

The fate of the bid won’t be known until May 2020, when FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, formerly votes to award the rights to the 2026 tournament. But World Cup bidding rules approved by FIFA’s ruling council make it almost certain the proposal will prevail.

Under the guidelines, regional confederations that have hosted a World Cup are prohibited for bidding on another for at least eight years. With Russia playing host to next year’s World Cup and Qatar staging the 2022 event, both the European and Asian federations are ineligible for consideration to 2026, sidelining both England and China, which had previously expressed interest the tournament.

“This is a milestone day for U.S. Soccer and for CONCACAF,” U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said. “We gave careful consideration to the prospect of bidding for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and ultimately feel strongly this is the right thing for our region and for our sport. Along with our partners from the Canadian Soccer Association and the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol, we are confident that we will submit an exemplary bid worthy of bringing the FIFA World Cup back to North America.”

According to Gulati, the bid will include 60 games to be played in the United States and 10 each for Mexico and Canada. All games from the quarterfinals will also be played in the United States.

After the news conference, Gulati, Canadian Soccer Federation president Victor Montagliani and Mexican Soccer Federation president Decio de Maria signed a memorandum of understanding cementing their intent to bid jointly for the 2026 tournament.

Montagliani said the decision to bid jointly for the World Cup had been years in the making. “There has been a lot of work done behind the scenes for many years,” he said, adding that they had received initial support from other federations around the world. He predicted, “the momentum will build.”

But much work remains to be done. FIFA’s new bidding procedure encompasses four stages, beginning next month with the strategy and consultation phase during which prospective host nations lay out their plans for the event.

With the tournament expanding to a record 48 teams and 80 matches for 2026, there will also be logistical headaches – problems that could be exacerbated by playing games in three separate countries. Only one previous World Cup – the 2002 tournament shared by South Korea and Japan – has had multiple hosts.

That event was hampered by several logistical problems that will likely cause many in FIFA to question the wisdom of a three-country bid.

FIFA is also certain to seek assurances from the U.S. that players, staff and fans would not face any undue burden in traveling to games in the U.S. The Trump administration has twice proposed travel bans temporarily barring visitors from a half-dozen Muslim-majority nations. The bans have been struck down by the courts but the administration has also called for additional vetting for travelers from several nations.

“We have very specifically addressed this with the president,” Gulati said of the Trump controversies. “He is fully supportive of the joint bid, encouraged the joint bid, and is especially pleased with the fact Mexico is participating in the joint bid.”

Gulati emphasized the warm relationship between the three countries and said that politics had not entered into the decision to make a joint bid. He said that President Trump has given his backing to the proposal and was particularly supportive of Mexico’s involvement.

“We’re not going to get too much into politics today,” Gulati said during a question and answer period.

The U.S. staged the 1994 World Cup tournament, still the best-attended, most profitable World Cup in history. The final that year was played in Pasadena’s Rose Bowl. And as the country demonstrated last year when it played host to the 100th-anniversary edition of the Copa America, the U.S. has the infrastructure and organizational know-how to put on even an expanded World Cup on its own.

The U.S. also sought to play host to the 2022 World Cup but lost out to Qatar in a vote later shown to have been tainted by corruption and bribery.

A three-country bid also protected the U.S. from having to fend off a rival proposal from Mexico, which had also expressed interest in staging the 2026 event.

Mexico was the site of the 1970 and 1986 World Cups while Canada put on the 2015 Women’s World Cup. That event was controversial for its use of artificial turf fields, which are banned from the men’s tournament. The only natural grass facility in Canada suitable for a World Cup match is Toronto’s MLS stadium.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.