United States President Donald Trump warned countries against opposing his nation's joint 2026 World Cup bid.
The U.S., Canada and Mexico have put together a joint bid for the showpiece tournament in eight years' time.
Morocco are the rival bid, with the decision set to be announced by FIFA in Moscow on June 13.
In a tweet on Thursday, Trump warned nations not to lobby against the USA, which hosted the event in 1994.
The U.S. has put together a STRONG bid w/ Canada & Mexico for the 2026 World Cup. It would be a shame if countries that we always support were to lobby against the U.S. bid. Why should we be supporting these countries when they don’t support us (including at the United Nations)?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 26, 2018
"The U.S. has put together a STRONG bid w/ Canada & Mexico for the 2026 World Cup," he wrote.
"It would be a shame if countries that we always support were to lobby against the U.S. bid.
"Why should we be supporting these countries when they don't support us (including at the United Nations)?"
The three-nation bid is widely seen as the favorite to host the 2026 World Cup, but speculation has increased that some of the Trump administration's controversial actions on immigration will shift global support to Morocco.
FIFA may also take a dim view of Trump's intervention given their strict rules on political interference. It can suspend the membership of any national football team if they judge the association has been influenced by external political pressure.
In the past, Kuwait and Pakistan have been among the nations suspended by world football's governing body, while they warned Spain as recently as December over their government's involvement in the selection of their association's new president.