Spain put forward proposal to host Euro 2028 and 2030 World Cup

Spain is keen to host the European Championships and the idea is that it stages Euro 2028. That was the proposal discussed by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, RFEF President Luis Rubiales and FIFA president Gianni Infantino during this morning's meeting at Moncloa Palace. Spain has never hosted the Euros (only the final phase in 1964), and the closest they have come to doing so will be in 2020 when Bilbao will be one of the 12 host cities for a Pan European version of the tournament.

According to Cadena SER, another of the issues discussed today was the possibility that Spain could host the 2030 World Cup finals. There are two potential ways that could happen: one is that Spain presents its candidacy alone, or put forward a joint bid with Morocco and Portugal. The latter is the option preferred by the Spanish Football Federation and one which they see has having the greatest chance of being successful when FIFA decide on a host nation for the event.

Spain hosted the 1982 World Cup

Spain's only involvement in hosting a major football tournament was in 1982 when it staged the World Cup. On that occasion, Italy were crowned world champions after beating West Germany in the final at the Santiago Bernabéu. 

The next World Cups will be held in Qatar (2020) while the United States, Canada and Mexico have presented a joint bid to stage the 2026 event.

2030: World Cup centenary

In 2030 it will be the 100th anniversary of the World Cup and FIFA could be inclined to hand it to Uruguay, the first country to hold the finals. But as the tournament tends to be staged on different continents, in 2030, it would be Europe's turn to host it.