WORLD CUP 2030
2030 World Cup in Spain, Portugal and Morocco: how many venues will each country get?
The Spanish, Portuguese and Moroccan soccer federations met on Thursday to finalise an outline agreement on the distribution of 2030 World Cup venues.
Spain, Portugal and Morocco have reached an agreement in principle on the distribution of venues for the 2030 men’s FIFA World Cup, which is set to be played in the three countries.
Chief hosts of three-continent World Cup
Earlier in October, FIFA announced that the Spanish, Portuguese and Moroccans’ joint bid to host the international soccer tournament in seven years’ time is to be the only candidacy.
World soccer’s governing body also revealed that Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will each stage one game at the 2030 World Cup, as part of the event’s centenary celebrations.
The plans are to be ratified at the next FIFA congress, which is to take place in Bangkok, Thailand, in May 2024.
What have 2030 World Cup hosts agreed on?
At a meeting in Madrid on Thursday, the Spanish, Portuguese and Moroccan soccer federations agreed that there will be 18 venues across the 2030 World Cup’s three principal host nations, in addition to one each in the three South American countries.
As things stand, 10 will be in Spain, five will be in Morocco and three will be in Portugal.
Spain has been pushing for an 11th Spanish venue, but this has met with resistance; the Portuguese, in particular, have complained that this would represent a disproportionate distribution of stadiums.
Morocco, meanwhile, stands to get one venue more than initially expected, albeit the North Africans would have liked to be given six.
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Moroccans fail in World Cup final bid
The Moroccans have been keen to host the 2030 World Cup final, but this proposal has not received support from the country’s bid partners. Both Spain and Portugal feel that Madrid’s Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, which hosted the World Cup final in 1982, is the ideal stadium for the showpiece game.
In addition to the three games that are to be held in South America, a total of 101 matches will be played in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
The 2030 World Cup will be the second edition of the tournament to feature 48 teams, following the event’s expansion ahead of the 2026 finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.