FIFA announces unprecedented 2030 hosts in ‘end of World Cup as we know it’

FIFA has announced the 2030 World Cup will be unlike anything the world has known with six countries sharing the tournament.

Lionel Messi. Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images.

The 2030 World Cup will be unlike anything the world has known with six countries sharing the tournament.

Morocco, Portugal and Spain have been named joint hosts for the world’s biggest sporting event, but games will also be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, FIFA announced on Wednesday morning.

FIFA said in a statement that the matches in South America — one each in Montevideo, Buenos Aires and Asuncion — were part of the celebration to mark 100 years since the first World Cup in Uruguay.

The announcement puts an end to competition between two major bids, one led by Spain and Portugal and the other from Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay.

“In a divided world, FIFA and football are uniting,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP.

“The FIFA Council, representing the entire world of football, unanimously agreed to celebrate the centenary of the FIFA World Cup, whose first edition was played in Uruguay in 1930, in the most appropriate way.”

It is another step towards a global tournament with the 2026 event also being spread across 16 cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The 2026 event will be the first time 48 countries will be involved in the finals.

World football’s governing body said the hosts for 2030 must still be officially rubber-stamped by the FIFA Congress next year.

However, Wednesday’s announcement means the way seems clear for this unprecedented intercontinental format, which promises complex political and logistical challenges and raises further questions about the environmental impact of major sporting events.

The move to spread the tournament across borders has angered some with many lamenting the end of the traditional 32-team, one country format.

High profile lobby group Football Supporters Europe was among the first to lash out on social media.

What they’re playing for. Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images.

“FIFA continues its cycle of destruction against the greatest tournament on earth,” it posted on Twitter.

The group said the announcement is “the end of the World Cup as we know it”.

At one stage, Spain and Portugal had included Ukraine in their bid, saying they wanted to send “a message of solidarity and hope” and pay tribute to the “tenacity and resilience” of a country invaded by Russia in February 2022.

Morocco, a five-time unsuccessful candidate to host the tournament, joined them in mid-March.

The agreement between European body UEFA and its African (CAF) and South American (CONMEBOL) counterparts confirms the withdrawal of Ukraine and also that of the South American countries, in exchange for a symbolic concession.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has announced it plans to bid to host the 2034 World Cup, the latest step in a campaign to turn the kingdom into a global sports powerhouse.

The bid “intends to deliver a world-class tournament and will draw inspiration from Saudi Arabia’s ongoing social and economic transformation and the country’s deep-rooted passion for football”, said a statement from the Saudi Arabian football federation.

News of the bid comes one year after neighbouring Qatar hosted the first World Cup in the Middle East, where the Saudi national team scored a stunning group stage victory over eventual winners Argentina.

— with AFP

Originally published as FIFA announces unprecedented 2030 hosts in ‘end of World Cup as we know it’