The United States will not be playing in the 2018 World Cup, but the country still got some good news this week.

Early Wednesday morning, FIFA approved a bid for the U.S., Mexico and Canada to host the 2026 World Cup. It will be the first World Cup in America since 1994. 

The plan is for the United States to host 60 of the 80 matches, with 10 each in Canada and Mexico. There will be 16 total host cities. Canada has three finalists (Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal) and Mexico three (Monterrey, Guadalajara and Mexico City), so the U.S. has 17 remaining bid cities for 10 spots.

It will be the first World Cup for Canada, which is still emerging at international soccer (although the women's team has had some success) and the first since 1986 for Mexico. 

Houston is one of the 16 U.S. cities bidding for the remaining spots, as is Dallas. The United bid group met in the Houston last November, which bodes well. At the very least, at least one of the two cities is a lock, so soccer fans in the state will have access to at least some games. 

So while 2018 was a soccer disaster for the United States, thanks to Wednesday's vote, the future looks much brighter, and soccer fans in North America will finally be treated to the sport's biggest event once again.