The United States have pulled out of the bidding race to host the 2018 World Cup.
The US was up against England, Russia or the joint bids of Netherlands-Belgium and Spain-Portugal to stage the competition in eight years, but it was considered the outsider because the 2010 tournament was in South Africa and the 2014 finals are in Brazil.
Friday's announcement that the US bid team will focus on trying to win the hosting rights in 2022 comes after several months of deliberations between FIFA, UEFA and members of the USA Bid Board of Directors.
"For some time we have been in conversations with FIFA and UEFA about the possibility of focusing only on the 2022 bidding process, an option we have made reference to many times," said Sunil Gulati, Chairman of the USA Bid Committee and President of U.S. Soccer.
"We are confident this is in the best interests of the USA Bid."
FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke added: "We have had an open and constructive dialogue with the USA Bid for some time now, after it became apparent that there was a growing movement to stage the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Europe. The announcement of today by the USA Bid to focus solely on the 2022 FIFA World Cup is therefore a welcome gesture which is much appreciated by FIFA."
Australia, Japan, Qatar and South Korea are also in the running to host the 2022 World Cup with FIFA set to announce both winning bids on December 2.