The 2030 men’s World Cup will be hosted by six countries on three different continents to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the first edition of the tournament, soccer’s world governing body FIFA announced.
According to CNN, “Spain, Portugal, and Morocco will co-host the tournament, while Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina will all stage an opening match each to mark 100 years since the first World Cup was staged. The 1930 tournament was hosted and won by Uruguay” (Morse).
The head of South America’s soccer governing body Conmebol, Alejandro Dominguez, said on Wednesday that Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay will host the first three matches of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, reported Reuters.
“We believed in Big. The 2030 Centenary World Cup begins where it all began. Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay will host the inaugural matches of the #Centennial World Cup,” wrote the president on his X Account minutes after FIFA released the statement.
Later at a press conference, President Alejandro Domínguez said “It’s a historic event and CONMEBOL is happy. We’re honoring the memory of those who came before us and today we’re at the level. “We appreciate again the confidence that FIFA and our colleagues showed for a historic event and date,”
“The good thing is that in having three countries, three hosts, we’re talking about almost no other investment more than what already exists. And that’s very good news because we all know that in that context, unfortunately, we’re not able to compete if this had been a question of investment or money demands”, reports CNN after the press conference.
The offer from the South American nations had long been considered an outsider, however, to the three-nation bid from Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, which was officially declared the sole bidder for 2030. But under the new arrangement to recognize the tournament’s centenary, each nation will get to take a turn as a host, reported The New York Times.
Santiago Minneti, an Argentinian tennis player at Morningside University and a big supporter of the Argentina Soccer National Team said, “I am a little disappointed by FIFA’s decision to only give one match to each of the South American countries, but I will equally enjoy seeing a 2030 World Cup match in Argentina. The reality is that my country does not have the necessary infrastructure to host the World Cup.”
The six countries had initially joined forces regionally in separate bids for the hosting rights to the 100th anniversary World Cup, a globe-stopping, month-long soccer festival that produces billions of dollars in revenue for FIFA every four years, reports The New York Times.
According to The New York Times, “The complexity and size of the World Cup have grown steadily in recent decades, with the next edition — in 2026 — expanded by 12 teams to 48 in total, making it the largest in history. That size, and FIFA’s exacting requirements for bidding countries and stadiums, mean that few nations are now capable of staging the event alone.”
The 2030 edition of the World Cup will see Morocco host the global tournament for the first time, also becoming the first North African side to host official games.
Portugal will also be a new first-time host, with Spain having hosted the competition in 1982.
It is exciting to live a World Cup in Spain, my parents always talk about how the 1982 World Cup was and how it helped the sport of soccer in Spain, I am anxious for the World Cup to be played in my country and see how everything will change, both to see how they remodel or make new stadiums or to see how the cities in Spain are prepared to receive people from all over the world. Stated Marco Lanza, a Spanish soccer player at Morningside University.
The 2030 championship will now start with an opening ceremony at the Estadio Centenario in Uruguay, the site of the 1930 final, and stadiums in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Asunción, Paraguay.
The three nations and their opponents would have to travel to Spain, Portugal, or Morocco to continue with the rest of the tournament, reports The New York Times.