The 2030 World Cup is scheduled to take place in six countries. One game is to be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay – also in memory of the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. All further games will then be held in Morocco, Portugal and Spain. The Council of the World Football Association FIFA decided this on Wednesday in a meeting via video conference.
The FIFA Council’s decision must now be confirmed by the FIFA Congress, which will not meet again until 2024. There is no further application. This would make this World Cup the first to be played on three continents.
It’s not just this solution that’s surprising, but also the timing at which it’s presented. The final decision should actually be made at the FIFA Congress in 2024. Why now in October 2023? The association’s press release refers to “the importance of the centenary of the FIFA World Cup winner”. This meant that the plan of the South American associations from Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay to organize this World Cup alone also failed.
FIFA apparently rejected this – and now presented this new variant that combines two applications. If the Council’s decision were to be approved by Congress, it would also be certain that, in addition to the three South American teams, Morocco, Portugal and Spain would also be selected as host teams for the tournament.
And what does the FIFA President say? In the message, Gianni Infantino is quoted with several Gianni Infantino sentences – including this one: “In a divided world, FIFA and football unite.” His statements also show that the first of the three games in South America will take place at the Estádio Centenário in Montevideo will take place, where the World Cup opened in 1930.
A comment from Christian Kamp Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 10 Michael Horeni Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 6 Christopher Meltzer, Munich Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 6 Tobias Rabe Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 6
FIFA also announced further Council decisions in the communication. With a view to the 2034 World Cup, member states from Asia and Oceania should apply. FIFA also announced that, like the European Football Union UEFA before it, it would allow U-17 teams from Russia to take part in its competitions again. And she reported that the Swede Mattias Grafström will be the new FIFA Secretary General on an interim basis.
