Serious things are beginning for the joint candidacy of Morocco, Spain and Portugal for the organization of the 2030 World Cup. After FIFA’s approval, it is now a question of dividing up the most coveted matches.
THE Spanish media have, for a long time, carried out intense propaganda at the venues where the two most important events of the competition took place, namely the opening match and the final. At one point, it was claimed that FIFA has already ruled in favor of Madrid and Barcelona. However, nothing has been decided yet!
The evaluation report, made public on Saturday November 30, 2024 by FIFA, indicates that three stadiums are competing for the two most popular dates of any World Cup. Two are, in fact, in Spain and one in Morocco, while Portugal is out of the race.
Read also | 2030 World Cup: nothing has yet been decided on the number of stadiums and their distribution
Unsurprisingly, the Santiago Bernabeu, the home of Real Madrid, and the Nou Camp (under renovation), the pride of Catalonia, are in competition with the future Grand Hassan II Stadium in Benslimane (under construction), intended to become the largest football stadium in the world with its 115,000 seats.
Furthermore, Casablanca is in pole position to house the International Broadcast Center (IBC), a site also coveted by Madrid. But, according to previous leaks, the Casablanca International Fair offers better arrangements to accommodate the thousands of FIFA team workers and media accredited to broadcast the matches.
Read also | British companies position themselves in the race for World Cup infrastructure
The Morocco-Spain-Portugal 2030 candidacy offers varied and interesting options for its stadiums, which number 20: six in Morocco, three in Portugal and 11 in Spain. This exceeds the minimum requirements (14 stadiums) set for the 2030 World Cup.
Five of the six stadiums (Agadir, Fez, Marrakech, Rabat and Tangier) proposed by Morocco will also host CAN-2025 matches. All six need to be built or renovated, but “appear to meet most or all of the requirements.”
Read also | Morocco is co-hosting the 2030 World Cup!
The evaluation reports concerning the organization of the 2030 and 2034 FIFA World Cups will be submitted for approval to the Extraordinary FIFA Congress, scheduled for December 11.
