Morocco advanced on Friday to a runoff vote against North America in its bid to host the 2026 World Cup.
The final vote over which country will host the event will be held on June 13 in Moscow. It will be decided by up to 207 football nations in a public vote that contrasts with the secrecy surrounding previous tainted World Cup decisions.
Morocco made it to the final stage despite a FIFA evaluation report which classified the African bid's stadia, accommodation and transport as "high risk."
A long-awaited report from FIFA inspectors left the US-Canada-Mexico bid as the clear front-runner after giving it a rating of four out of a possible five according to its criteria.
Morocco received only 2.7 out of five, but advanced despite red flags being raised over several critical components of the bid.
The US, which hosted the 1994 World Cup, would host 60 games in 2026, including everything from the quarterfinal stage. Mexico, which was the sole host in 1970 and 1986, would have to settle for 10 games, like Canada.
The North Americans scored the only maximum five mark from FIFA for its ticketing and hospitality plans, which helped drive a forecast revenue for the tournament of $14.3 billion, "significantly higher" than Morocco's $7.2 billion.
However, the lowest mark out of five for either bid in each of nine categories is 2.0 for the Americans' projected organizing costs which were driven up by having 16 stadiums instead of the minimum 12.
In 17 of 20 categories rated by FIFA in the report, the North American bid was rated as "low risk". Morocco was deemed low risk in seven categories, with others classified as medium or high risk.
A FIFA summary of the bid task force's findings warned that "the amount of new infrastructure required for the Morocco 2026 bid to become reality cannot be overstated."
"The Bid Evaluation Task Force considers it its duty to emphasize the significant overall risk, on a compounded basis, of a bid that has so many facilities (from stadiums and training sites to major transport infrastructure and accommodation projects) that would need to be built or completely renovated," the summary stated.
The report's release followed intense speculation earlier Friday that Morocco's bid would not be cleared to advance to the Moscow vote on the eve of next month's World Cup.
The North American bid had long been seen as the overwhelming favorite but has faced increasingly stiff competition from Morocco in recent months.
While the North American bid showcases an array of gleaming, large capacity stadia and an established transport and tourism infrastructure, Morocco's bid relies heavily on the country's passion for football, it's relatively compact size and its proximity to Europe.
Africa has only hosted the global showpiece once before, in South Africa in 2010.
But although the FIFA evaluation report released Friday leaves Morocco's bid on the ropes, it is not necessarily a knockout blow.
The 2026 World Cup will be the first to be expanded to 48 teams, posing a severe test for the hosts.
Morocco has unsuccessfully bid four times before, in 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2010.
