The 2030 FIFA World Cup will be the 24th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The 2030 World Cup will mark the centennial World Cup competition.
| Copa Mundial de la FIFA 2030 Coupe du Monde FIFA 2030 2030 كَأْسُ الْعَالَم لِكُرَّةُ الْقَدَم Campeonato do Mundo da FIFA de 2030 ⴰⴽⵔⵡⴰⵙ ⵏ ⵓⵎⴰⴹⴰⵍ ⵏ ⵜⵡⵊⵊⴰ ⵏ ⵓⴹⴰⵕ 2030 FIFA Tembiesarái Yvypavẽ 2030 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host countries | Spain Morocco Portugal
|
| Dates | 8 June (in 71 months)– 21 July[1] |
| Teams | 48 (from 6 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 20 (including centenary match hosts) (in 20 host cities) |
For the first time, three countries from three continents will host the competition, with Spain, Morocco, and Portugal as host nations. Additionally, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the FIFA World Cup, in particular the first World Cup in Uruguay. The first game, alongside a special centenary celebration, will be held in the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Uruguay. The second and third games will be held in Argentina and Paraguay, respectively. The rest of the games will be held in Spain, Morocco and Portugal.[2]
This will be the first ever World Cup held in North Africa and the first World Cup held in the whole of Africa since 2010, in South America since 2014, as well as in Europe since 2018. In terms of the countries, this will be the first World Cup held in Morocco, Portugal, and Paraguay, the first held in Uruguay since the inaugural tournament, the first to take place in Argentina since 1978, and the first to be held in Spain since 1982.
Host selection
editFIFA launched the bidding process in 2022.[3][4]
As hosts of the 2022 and 2026 editions respectively, the 2030 FIFA World Cup cannot be hosted by a member of the Asian AFC or the North American CONCACAF.[5][6]
Concerns
editThe 2030 FIFA World Cup has already been met with backlash from fans, football officials, and environmental groups with them noting the large distance between South America and Europe would require considerable plane travel, which would increase the carbon footprint and negate FIFA's carbon neutral plans. They have also noted the issues for fans of teams who would get drawn with Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, as well as the short amount of rest for players once those teams travel back to the main hosts in Iberia and Morocco. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter warned that the number of hosts that the 2030 FIFA World Cup would cause the tournament to "lose its identity". Others have noted that with the FIFA rotation system, CONCACAF (which will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup), CONMEBOL, UEFA, and CAF would be unable to bid, leaving 2034 open only for the AFC and OFC, which has led to accusations that FIFA intentionally selected these countries, especially those in CONMEBOL region, to ensure that Saudi Arabia, an AFC member with major human rights controversies, would win their bid unopposed.[7][8]
Potential venues
edit
Prior to the finalizing of the bid book on July 31, the Royal Spanish Football Federation announced its proposed 11 stadiums from 9 cities to host matches. They had also proposed two more stadiums; Nou Mestalla in Valencia, and Balaídos in Vigo, but the addition of the two may exceed FIFA's limit of 20 stadiums. [9] The host city list was finalized 12 days later, including 6 stadia in 6 cities from Morocco, 3 stadia in 2 cities from Portugal, joining 9 stadia in 9 cities from Spain, for a total of 17 cities.[10]
| City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
 A Coruña |
Estadio Riazor | 34,889 (requires expansion beyond 40,000) |
 Agadir |
Adrar Stadium | 45,480 (possible expansion to 46,000) |
| Barcelona |
Camp Nou | 105,000 |
| Stage Front Stadium | 40,000 | |
| Bilbao |
San Mamés Stadium | 53,331 |
| Casablanca |
Hassan II Stadium (New) | 115,000 |
| Fes |
Fez Stadium | 45,000 (possible expansion to 55,800) |
| Las Palmas |
Estadio Gran Canaria | 32,392 (requires expansion beyond 40,000) |
 Lisbon |
Estádio da Luz | 64,642 |
| Estádio José Alvalade | 50,095 | |
| Madrid |
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium | 80,000 |
| Metropolitano Stadium | 70,460 | |
| Málaga |
La Rosaleda Stadium | 30,044 (requires expansion beyond 40,000) |
| Marrakech |
Marrakesh Stadium | 45,240 |
| Porto |
Estádio do Dragão | 50,033 |
| Rabat |
Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium | 53,000 (possible expansion to 68,700) |
| San Sebastián |
Anoeta Stadium | 39,313 (requires expansion beyond 40,000) |
| Seville |
Estadio de La Cartuja | 57,600 (possible expansion to 70,000-75,000) |
| Tangier |
Ibn Batouta Stadium | 65,000 (possible expansion to 75,600) |
| Zaragoza |
La Romareda | 42,500 (after expansion) |
Three South American cities were also selected in the bid book to host centenary matches.[11]
| City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
 Asunción |
Estadio Defensores del Chaco | 41,186 |
| New National Stadium (New) | 47,128 | |
 Buenos Aires |
Estadio Antonio Vespucio Liberti | 84,593 |
 Montevideo |
Estadio Centenario | 62,782 |
Teams
editQualification
edit
All six host nations will qualify for the World Cup.[2][12][13]
References
edit- ^ "Bidding process 2030". FIFA.com. FIFA. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ a b "FIFA Council takes key decisions on FIFA World Cup editions in 2030 and 2034". FIFA.com. FIFA. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
- ^ "Agenda of meeting no. 11 of the FIFA Council" (PDF). FIFA. 21 October 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
- ^ "Who will host 2030 FIFA World Cup? Bids from Africa, South America, and Europe in the running, including Ukraine". The Sporting News. 5 October 2022. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
- ^ Tim Hill in New York (9 March 2017). "Trump travel ban could prevent United States hosting World Cup". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
- ^ Rumsby, Ben (14 October 2016). "England's hopes of hosting 2030 World Cup given boost". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
- ^ Klawans, Justin (6 October 2023). "FIFA catches blowback over 2030 World Cup". The Week.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia set to host 2034 World Cup". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- ^ Rampling, Ali (19 July 2024). "Spain's 11 proposed 2030 World Cup stadiums announced by RFEF". The Athletic.
- ^ "FWC30 Bid book Yalla Vamos" (PDF). 31 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ "CCM FWC30 Bid book" (PDF). 31 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ "Consejo de la FIFA confirma a Paraguay como sede inaugural del Mundial 2030" (in Spanish). Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol. 4 October 2023.
- ^ "FIFA World Cup 2030: Everything you need to know". FIFA. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.