The only country to ever say “no” to the World Cup: Inside the wild political decision that changed history
A total of 19 different countries have hosted the World Cup to date. The 1986 edition, one of the most iconic, was switched to Mexico at the last minute.
Throughout almost a century of history, the World Cup has been hosted by 19 different countries - six of them staging the event more than once.
In 1986, Mexico became the first nation to host the summer tournament twice - but not by design. The 13th edition of FIFA’s world soccer tournament was originally due to be played in Colombia, running from May 31 to June 29 1986. However, it soon be evident that it would be impossible to hold a major sporting event on the scale of the World Cup in a country which had ravaged by years of political instability, economic turmoil and infrastructure projects which had stalled or failed to even get off the ground.
Colombia’s World Cup dream
Colombia’s bid to hold the 1986 World Cup was the brainchild of Football Federation chief Alfonso Senior Quevedo. His project was optimistically backed by the head of the government, President Carlos Lleras Restrepo - other South American countries, Uruguay, Brazil and Chile had hosted previous editions and Argentina had been elected to hold the 1978 tournament, so why couldn’t Colombia?
The Colombian Football Federation submitted its bid to host the 1986 World Cup to FIFA in 1973. It would be the only bid that would land on the table of FIFA president Sir Stanley Rous. With no other bids, Colombia’s was approved and rubber-stamped by Rous’ successor João Havelange on June 9 1974.
A supersized World Cup with just two stadiums
But as time moved on, there was little or no progress on stadium construction and related infrastructure. The golden age of the early 70s was followed by years of economic stagnation - a situation which was not helped by interventionism by successive governments. And to compound Colombia’s problems further, FIFA decided to make the tournament even bigger - expanding it from 16 teams to 24, starting at Spain ‘82.
By the turn of the decade, Colombia didn’t appear to be anywhere near ready to stage a World Cup and FIFA was now very worried.
By 1982, the situation reached a breaking point. FIFA issued a strict list of conditions with immediate deadlines: multiple new modern stadiums capable of hosting 40,000 spectators, major upgrades to highways and airports, and firm financial guarantees. For Colombia, meeting those demands was impossible. In October 1982, President Belisario Betancur’s government officially withdrew from hosting duties, ending the country’s World Cup hopes.
United States, Canada or Mexico
That meant that FIFA suddenly had to find a new host. The United States and Canada both submitted strong bids but in the end, the 1986 World Cup was handed to Mexico, with only member of FIFA’s executive committee voted against.
Mexico became the first nation to stage the World Cup for the second time meanwhile Colombia, the first and only host nation to withdraw, didn’t even qualify for the ‘86 edition.
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