2010 FIFA World Cup qualification scored over 852 matches, scoring on average 2.74 per match. At the close of entries on 15 March 2007, 204 football associations had entered the preliminary competition: 203 out of the 207 FIFA members at that time (including the host nation, South Africa, as the qualification procedure in Africa also acted as the qualification for the 2010 African Cup of Nations) and the Montenegro team, which later became FIFA's 208th member. The final number of teams entered breaks the previous record of 199 entrants set during the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Four FIFA members (all from the AFC) failed to
United 2026 FIFA World Cup bid in three countries and the first since 2002, and the second overall, to have multiple host countries. The three soccer federations of Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. announced interest to submit a bid for the 2026 World Cup years before the federations intended to unify their efforts. In July 2012, Canadian Soccer Association president Victor Montagliani confirmed plans for a Canadian bid, saying: "We have verbally told FIFA that when the bid process begins for the next available World Cup, which would be the 2026 World Cup, that the CSA will be one of the countries putting in a formal