RABAT: Morocco will not be a candidate to host the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations after Cameroon were stripped of the tournament, the country’s sports minister Rachid Talbi Alami said on Wednesday. “Morocco does not intend to run for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations and will not do so,” he told AFP. Earlier this year, North America were picked as hosts of the 2026 World Cup after FIFA voters overwhelmingly opted for the financial and logistical certainty of a US-led bid over a Moroccan proposal for the first 48-team tournament. The soccer showpiece will return to the US for the first time since 1994 after gaining 134 votes, while Morocco got 65 at the FIFA Congress in Moscow. Meanwhile, Spain and Portugal had considering a joint intercontinental bid with Morocco to host the 2030 tournament, after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited Rabat and discussed the possibility with Morocco"s King Mohamed VI. Sanchez was on a visit to the Moroccan capital of Rabat and met with Prime Minister Saadedin Al Othmani and King Mohamed to discuss the possibility of bidding for world soccer"s global showpiece tournament.