 This left the United States as the sole applicant by the March 1996 deadline for bids.The FIFA Executive Committee officially awarded hosting rights to the United States on 31 May 1996, the same day that the 2002 men's World Cup was jointly awarded to Japan and South Korea.With the exception of the semi-finals, the tournament's 32 matches were organized into 15 doubleheaders, consisting of two matches played back-to-back in the same stadium.