The World Cup 2030 bid is set to be on stage soon and the candidates from Latino countries are currently dominating.
World Cup 2022 has yet to begin, but the battle for the next two editions is about to begin, with FIFA recently announcing the 16 official World Cup 2026 host cities. The decision on who will host the next World Cup will most likely be made six years before the event. However, given what happened with the 2026 host bidding, which took place eight years in advance, most likely due to the fact that it will consist of 48 teams instead of 32, FIFA may be inclined to select the 2030 host in this year’s Congress. It would be giving the selected hosts more time to prepare as the tournament is less likely to be held by a single nation.
The World Cup in 2030 will mark the centennial anniversary of the event. So far, two bids have been submitted: UEFA’s Spain-Portugal and CONMEBOL’s four-nation host, Argentina-Uruguay-Chile-Paraguay. The African delegation has not yet confirmed their bid. Morocco has been identified as a potential rival for them, particularly following their defeat in the 2026 bid against the United States, Mexico, and Canada four years ago. It was their fifth loss in bidding the World Cup host after 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2010. However, no official joint bid submission has yet been made, despite the fact that they are considering moving forward with either Egypt or Saudi Arabia.
The Battle for the World Cup 2030 Bid is All About Latino Candidates
UEFA’s Iberia
Spain and Portugal have first announced their bid on October 7, 2020, prior to their friendly match. They are confident of winning the bid because they have received official support from European football’s governing body, as opposed to their rivals, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the Balkans, which include Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece. UEFA’s president, Alexander Ceferin, has been quoted as saying that the former will be dropped. Instead, he advised them to focus more on the EURO 2028 bid. Meanwhile, despite their April 2019 agreement, the latter has yet to make any significant progress.
Spain and Portugal have had a long history of staging major tournaments and competitions. Spain was the host in World Cup 1982 and EURO 1964. One of their cities, Sevilla, was chosen to hold several games in EURO 2020 as well. Meanwhile, Portugal once hosted EURO 2004 and staged two consecutive Champions League finals during the world pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Based on their proposal, Spain is set to use 13 to 14 venues while Portugal will be providing three stadiums.
Given their geographical location, there was a plan to include Morocco in their bids. It should have been ideal for dealing with CONMEBOL’s representatives. Unfortunately, despite Gianni Infantino’s full support, the deal fell through. One of the main reasons for its failure was a lack of support from UEFA. Another one was Portugal’s objection to the plan.
CONMEBOL’S Southern Cone
CONMEBOL appears ready to go head-to-head with their own candidates, the four-joint hosts Argentina-Uruguay-Chile-Paraguay. The historical aspect is definitely in their favour as it is the perfect one to celebrate the 100th World Cup back to where it all began. The bid has been officially submitted in 2019 and will be named Southern Cone 2030 World Cup.
The first three nations already had a chance to be the world cup host in the past. Argentina did it in 1978, Uruguay held the first edition while Chile was appointed in 1962. Argentina has also experienced in hosting World Cup U20 in 2001, whereas Chile did it in the 1987 edition. Meanwhile, Paraguay’s only notable one in staging the major tournament was in 1999 when they held the regional competition, Copa America.
There has yet to be a confirmed plan for each host nation’s fixture and venue share. Nonetheless, given the number of FIFA-approved venues, Argentina may host more games than the other three. In comparison to their neighbours, they have more stadiums which can hold over 30,000 people, the minimum capacity by FIFA standards.