FIFA officially awarded the organization of the 2030 World Cup to Spain, Morocco and Portugal during an extraordinary virtual congress. Six countries will host the 2030 edition and Saudi Arabia will organize the 2034 edition.
The 211 member federations ratified this double designation by a single vote. The absence of competition, after a series of renunciations for 2030 and an express procedure for 2034, has swept away all suspense.
The “Centennial World Cup” will unite 6 countries: Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. The 3 South American countries will host only 3 inaugural matches to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup (1930 in Uruguay).
Saudi Arabia the only candidate
Invoking the principle of continental rotation, FIFA had limited its call for applications for the 2034 edition to the Asian and Oceanic confederations, carried out briskly in a short month in the fall of 2023.
And Saudi Arabia, the emerging superpower of world sport – from F1 to the future e-sport Olympics, including the 2029 Asian Winter Games – found itself the only candidate after Australia’s withdrawal and Indonesia, and the shelving of China’s footballing ambitions.
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Swiss
