The host teams' curse continued in the World Cup, after the United States national team exited the 2026 edition competitions from the round of 16.
The American national team has become the latest victim of what has become known as the "host curse", which has deprived the hosts of winning the World Cup title for nearly 30 years.
The exit of the American national team came after its loss to Belgium by a score of 1-4 in the round of 16, ending the hopes of one of the three host countries for the current edition.
Meanwhile, Canada had already exited the tournament from the same round against Morocco, while Mexico was eliminated by England in the round of 16 as well.
Thus, the 2026 edition has become the seventh consecutive one in which the host country fails to win the World Cup title.
The last crowning of a World Cup host
The last crowning of a host national team with the World Cup title dates back to the 1998 edition, when France won the tournament title that was held on its soil.
In the following 7 editions, including this year's edition, none of the hosts were able to win by leveraging the home and crowd factors.
The teams affected by this curse are South Korea and Japan (2002), Germany (2006), South Africa (2010), Brazil (2014), Russia (2018), Qatar (2022), then the United States, Canada, and Mexico in the 2026 edition.
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