Morocco, Portugal and Spain will be joint hosts for the 2030 World Cup but games will also be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay as the footballing showpiece celebrates its centenary, FIFA announced on Wednesday.
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.
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“In a divided world, FIFA and football are uniting,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
“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.”
World football’s governing body said the hosts 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 drew immediate criticism from the influential lobby group Football Supporters Europe, who described it as “the end of the World Cup as we know it”.
“FIFA continues its cycle of destruction against the greatest tournament on earth,” it said on X, formerly Twitter, adding that the decision was “horrendous for supporters” and “disregards the environment”.
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– Exit Ukraine –
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.
FIFA said Spain, Portugal and Morocco would all qualify automatically for the competition.
“I am convinced that with Morocco and Portugal we will organise the best World Cup in history,” said Pedro Rocha, the interim president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), in a joint statement issued with those of Morocco and Portugal.
Morocco, which was last week named as host for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, will become the second African country to host the World Cup after South Africa in 2010.
According to FIFA, a “centenary ceremony” will be held “at the stadium where it all began”, in Montevideo’s Estadio Centenario in 1930, when the event brought together 13 teams in a single host city — compared with 32 for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and 48 from the 2026 World Cup in North America onwards.
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– Australia-New Zealand for 2034 … or Saudi Arabia? –
“We could not let this historic opportunity pass us by,” said Alejandro Dominguez, the president of CONMEBOL, as he indicated that the centenary tournament would start in Montevideo.
“We are honouring the memory of those who came before us,” he added.
However, a source within FIFA said the traditional opening ceremony would still take place in one of the official host nations.
FIFA also said it was inviting bids from the Asian and Oceanian continental confederations for the 2034 World Cup, which once again opens the door to a joint bid from Australia and New Zealand.
Australia has not attempted to host the men’s World Cup since its ill-fated, and controversial, bid for the 2022 tournament, won by Qatar.
However, Australia can now call itself a proven World Cup destination having hosted a largely successful women’s event in 2023 jointly with New Zealand.
Football fever spread across the nation off the back of the Matildas’ run to the semi finals, and matches attracted big crowds across the country.
Nonetheless, the announcement means the door is also open to money giant Saudi Arabia, which confirmed it was a candidate in the latest step in a campaign to turn the kingdom into a global sports powerhouse.
On the heels of the Qatar tournament, Saudi Arabia signed Cristiano Ronaldo to play in the Saudi Pro League, the first in a slew of major stars drawn by eye-watering salaries to the world’s biggest crude oil exporter.
Sport is a major component of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 reform agenda, which aims to transform Saudi Arabia into a tourism and business hub while transitioning the economy away from fossil fuels.
Saudi Arabia will also host the FIFA Club World Cup in December.
Earlier this year Saudi Arabia was confirmed as host of football’s 2027 Asian Cup.
That event will enable Saudi officials to improve on existing football infrastructure, with new “world-class stadiums” constructed “in the most sustainable ways”, Saudi football federation president Yasser Al Misehal said on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia previously explored a tri-continental World Cup bid with Egypt and Greece, though that plan has been shelved.