The joint candidacy of Spain, Portugal and Morocco is the only one to organize the 2030 World Cup, which will host the celebration of the competition’s centenary in Montevideo, a match in Argentina and another in Paraguay, countries that were part of the other project to host the event.
FIFA confirmed this Wednesday this decision adopted unanimously in the videoconference meeting of its Council, “after extensive consultations with all the confederations and given the importance of commemorating the centenary of the FIFA World Cup”, which was held in Uruguay in 1930.
Spain, Portugal and Morocco will qualify directly for the competition, whose candidacy as organizer must be ratified by the 2024 FIFA Congress, which launched an invitation to the associations of Asia (AFC) and Oceania to present bids for the 2034 World Cup
. FIFA highlighted that “in 2030, the World Cup will unite three continents and six countries, inviting the entire world to join in the celebration of the beautiful game, the Centennial and the World Cup itself.”
World Cup Centenary
After the announcement, the president of the organization, Gianni Infantino, assured that “in a divided world, FIFA and football are coming together” and noted that “the FIFA Council, representing the entire world of football, unanimously agreed to celebrate the centenary of the World Cup, the first edition of which was played in Uruguay in 1930, in the most appropriate way.”
“As a result, there will be a celebration in South America and three South American countries (Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay) will each host a World Cup 2030 match. The first of these three matches will, of course, be played in the stadium where it all started, in the legendary Estadio Centenário in Montevideo, precisely to celebrate the centenary edition of the World Cup,” he added.
A single joint candidacy
Regarding the unanimous decision that the only candidacy to host the event is the joint one of Morocco, Portugal and Spain”, Infantino stressed that they are “two continents, Africa and Europe, united not only in a celebration of football, but also to provide a unique social and cultural cohesion.”
“What a great message of peace, tolerance and inclusion! In 2030, we will have a unique global footprint, three continents – Africa, Europe and South America – six countries – Argentina, Morocco, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain and Uruguay – welcoming and uniting the world as we celebrate together the beautiful game, the centenary and the FIFA World Cup,” he added.
The 2030 World Cup will be the second in which 48 teams will participate, after expanding from 32 to this number in the next one that will be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada in 2026.
Spain has already hosted a World Cup
Spain already hosted the World Cup in 1982 and unsuccessfully opted to host the competition in 2018, which was held in Russia.
Portugal and Morocco will be organizers for the first time. The Moroccan Federation presented its candidacy for the event for the last time for the 2026 edition, when it lost to the project of the United States, Mexico and Canada and had previously opted on five occasions (1994, 1998, 2006, 2010 and 2018).
The FIFA Council also agreed that, “in accordance with the principle of rotation of confederations and guaranteeing the best possible conditions for hosting the tournaments, the bidding processes for the 2030 and 2034 editions will be carried out simultaneously,” to at the same time he invited the associations of the Asian Confederation (AFC) and Oceania (OFC) to present their candidacies for the second.
Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will host opening matches
The president of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), Alejandro Domínguez, announced this Wednesday that Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will host the opening matches of the 2030 World Cup, when the centenary of this event will be celebrated.
“We believed in Big. The 2030 Centennial World Cup begins where it all began. “Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will host the opening matches of the #MundialCentenario,” he wrote on his account on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
In a later press conference, Domínguez announced that the tournament will begin in South America.
“There will be a time before the game where we will be celebrating the anniversary both in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. There are going to be three inaugurations, they are not just three games, there are three inaugurations that are going to be held in these venues, in these countries, and also all the previous celebrations,” he added.
The leader, who thanked the full FIFA council for accepting the South American proposal, highlighted that he announced it as a “historical fact” and indicated that football “united three continents” and “united six countries.”
The president of the Paraguayan Football Association (APF), Robert Harrison, assured that the World Cup will begin in South America, with opening matches in Montevideo, Buenos Aires and a city that did not specify Paraguay, and then “it moves to Spain, Portugal and Morocco”.
Furthermore, he confirmed that the three South American federations “are already classified.”
By Muhammad Hussain
