MOSCOW — In a FIFA election where money could be key, Morocco tried to heap doubt on North American promises of multibillion dollar 2026 World Cup profits Monday.

Moroccan jibes at projections from the United States-Canada-Mexico bid came when leaders of the rival campaigns met voters from five of FIFA’s six continental groups.

“There is lots of uncertainty,” said Fouzi Lekjaa, the Morocco Football Federation president, of the detail in North American pledges of $14.3 billion revenue for FIFA.

“That doesn’t correspond either to historical facts or future extrapolation. It’s an exercise that goes beyond that,” Lekjaa said in French.

Money won’t be the only factor on the minds of up to 206 expected FIFA member federations who can vote Wednesday in Moscow.

Still, a FIFA-appointed panel assessing the two candidates already noted the “significantly higher” number than Morocco’s projected income of $7.2 billion for football’s governing body from a 48-team tournament.

Morocco’s counterattack is $5 billion pure profit for FIFA would be a World Cup record.

“We do not blush when we propose that,” Morocco tourism minister Lamia Boutaleb said in an impassioned speech to 53 African voters in a Moscow hotel conference center.

The Moroccan bid team took to the stage at a Confederation for African Football (CAF) meeting minutes after the North Americans presented their plan to what shaped as its most hostile audience of the day.

“We have shown the best we have to offer to all the FIFA members,” said Decio de Maria, the Mexico federation president.

Though the American team was met with just polite applause and no follow-up questions, it still hopes for African votes Wednesday.

Liberia, Namibia and Zimbabwe pledged support before arriving in Russia, and the North Americans have targeted voters in the southern African group known as COSAFA.

It was perhaps telling that the CAF president, Ahmad Ahmad, stressed the need to “show cohesion within our continent” in a contest where FIFA will publish each member’s choice soon after the ballot.

“There is an obligation to remain within our family,” the Madagascar official said “But of course it is an individual choice.”

The African meeting began with Ahmad announcing that his first vice president, Kwesi Nyantakyi, resigned from CAF and FIFA’s ruling council while facing a corruption investigation in his native Ghana.

A television documentary last week showed Nyantakyi taking $65,000 in cash from undercover reporters posing as businessmen to secure favor with Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo and other government officials.

Ghana can vote Wednesday, though Moroccan attempts to pressure FIFA into acting against four American territories seem sure to fail.

FIFA election rules suggested American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands could be barred from voting by a potential conflict of interest.

“Our voting delegate has a New Zealand passport,” said an American Samoan official, Sandra Fruean, a FIFA Council member.

The last-minute lobbying continues Tuesday at another central Moscow hotel, where the rival bid teams will make presentations to 54 European voters.

ROMELU LUKAKU scored twice and set up a third goal as Belgium closed its World Cup preparations in style by routing Costa Rica 4-1 at Brussels.

Costa Rica, one of the surprise teams in the last World Cup, when it reached the quarterfinals, took a surprise lead through a Bryan Ruiz volley but was outclassed for much of the match.

SENEGAL SCORED two second-half goals to beat fellow World Cup entry South Korea 2-0 at Groedig, Austria, and end a four-match winless streak in its final warm-up.

INJURED POLAND defender Kamil Glik said he believes doctors in France have given him the “green light” to play but the final decision rests with the national team physician.

LAMBERT MALTOCK of Vanuatu was chosen to lead Oceania, the 11-member governing body for the south Pacific, which is based in New Zealand. He replaces David Chung, who resigned amid corruption allegations.

THE ASIAN Football Confederation agreed to a broadcast rights deal with a Chinese partner, guaranteeing more than $4 billion in income over eight years through 2028.

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