The move follows the withdrawal of financial backing from the local government in Quebec, in large part due to the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Montreal’s Olympic Stadium was the city’s proposed venue.

It means Toronto and Edmonton remain the sole Canadian host cities for the showpiece global soccer event, with Vancouver already out of the running.

“Canada Soccer acknowledges that the City of Montréal, Québec has announced that they will not continue the selection process as a candidate host city for the Fifa World Cup 2026,” Canada Soccer said in a statement.

“We thank the City of Montréal for their participation in the bid process and look forward to continuing our collaboration with the respective municipal and provincial governments along with the Government of Canada in support of the selection of Edmonton, Alberta and Toronto, Ontario as host cities for the Fifa World Cup 2026,” the statement added.

The final 16 host cities are expected to be officially chosen by Fifa by the final quarter of this year.

The remaining US candidate cities are Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC.

The Mexican bidding cities are Gaudalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey.

With Montreal’s withdrawal, it seems possible that the US could have 11 host cities rather than the projected 10.

Originally published on SportBusiness.