Today the World Cup in Qatar begins but many, especially those who call for a boycott, are already looking towards the next event in four years
Today begins the World Cup in Qatar, the most controversial in history. Many fans will choose to turn off the television for the next four weeks in protest at taking the World Cup to a country that does not respect human rights and whose choice as a venue is being investigated in a Swiss court. They look elsewhere, specifically to 2026.
The World Cup will recover its ‘normality’ in four years, although the wait will be less. The World Cup will be held again in June and July and the event has gone to Concacaf (the North American federation).
The United States, Mexico and Canada will be the organizers of the 2026 World Cup. It will be the first time that there are three host teams and it will serve as a launching pad for the new format that FIFA brings to the World Cups.
World Cup 2026: new format
What caused so many complaints in the world of football will finally come true. The 2026 World Cup will be the first to have 48 teams, 16 more than now. Europe will go from 13 to 16 teams, Africa from 5 to 9, Asia from 4 to 8, South America from 4 to 6, North America from 3 to 6 and Oceania will secure a permanent place. The remaining two places will be decided by a play-off mini-tournament to be played by six teams, one per confederation with the exception of UEFA and the organizing country. The competition will change completely. There will be 16 groups of 3 teams each, for the eight of four current teams. The first two will go to the round of 16.
World Cup 2030: Spain’s great hope
Spain places all its hopes on 2024. In two years, and within the framework of the 74th FIFA Congress, the leaders will choose the venue for the 2030 World Cup. A World Cup that will be very special because it is the centenary of the competition.
After Qatar and the joint organization of the US, Mexico and Canada, Europe has many options to host a World Cup again, although the strongest rival will be South America. Spain’s candidacy is linked to Portugal and Ukraine. Most of the matches would be played in our country, while Portugal would provide only two stadiums and Ukraine would host a group stage match symbolically and as a gesture for the Russian invasion that the country has suffered since March.
Opposite, the quadruple candidacy of Argentina, Uruguay – the country where the first World Cup was held in 1930, Paraguay and Chile. They are the two that have the most ballots, although there are two more options. The third is Morocco. The country presents itself again and alone in search of the World Cup that South Africa took from it in 2010. The last, and strangest, is the one made up of the confederations of Europe, Asia and Africa. Greece, Saudi Arabia -another country where Human Rights are not respected- and Egypt. This last candidacy would force the World Cup to be postponed until November.
