Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) has announced the trio of Morocco, Portugal and Spain as the joint host of the 2030 World Cup.
It will be the second time the quadrennial tournament will be played on the African continent after South Africa hosted the 2010 edition but will be the first time it will take place in North Africa.
The 2030 World Cup, which will mark 100 years since the first one was played in Uruguay, will involve teams playing in six countries, each of which will qualify automatically. The tournament has never been played on more than one continent.
The 1930 host and winner Uruguay will stage the opening ceremony and a match, governing body FIFA said. Argentina and Paraguay will also each stage a match, FIFA said, making the competition the first to be held on three continents.
The decision was made at a virtual meeting of the FIFA Council on Wednesday. It will need to be confirmed in a vote taken by all 211 members of the world football governing body in the final months of next year.
“Having taken into account the historical context of the first-ever FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Council further unanimously agreed to host a unique centenary celebration ceremony in Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo,” the organisation said.
Speaking on this unprecedented development, FIFA President, Mr Gianni Infantino, said, “The FIFA council, representing the entire world of football, unanimously agreed to celebrate the centenary of the FIFA World Cup, whose first edition was played in Uruguay in 1930, in the most appropriate way. As a result, a celebration will take place in South America and three South American countries – Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay – will organise one match each of the Fifa World Cup 2030.
“The first of these three matches will of course be played at the stadium where it all began, in Montevideo’s mythical Estádio Centenário, precisely to celebrate the centenary edition of the Fifa World Cup.”
The competition was traditionally staged by a single country, though that changed in 2002 when Japan and South Korea hosted jointly. The 2026 edition will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the US, the first time three nations have run the competition.
Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay showed interest in recent years to host the entire tournament in 2030 but finally withdrew, in large part due to the cost burden of organizing a World Cup.
FIFA has committed to rotating the tournament between confederations and although the UEFA/CAF bid was the favourite for 2030, Conmebol – the South American confederation – has not hosted a World Cup since Brazil 2014 and was looking to commemorate the centenary of the first World Cup.
As a result of the decision taken on Wednesday, the 2034 World Cup will be staged in a host country (or countries) represented by the Asian or Oceania confederations.
