FIFA have made the remarkable decision to have SIX countries host matches at the 2030 World Cup - across three different continents.
Under a proposal accepted by the FIFA council at a meeting on Wednesday, Spain, Portugal and Morocco are set to jointly host the competition. But the opening matches will take place across South America - in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay - to commemorate the tournament's centenary.
Uruguayan capital city Montevideo, host of the inaugural World Cup finals match in 1930, is expected to stage the opening match, followed by games in Argentina and Paraguay. Uruguay's selection for 2030 honours their role as hosts and winners of the first tournament, Argentina's as runners-up in that tournament, and Paraguay's as the traditional home of CONMEBOL, South American football's governing body.
As such, all three nations will automatically qualify for the finals and play their opening games on home soil.
The remainder of the 48-team tournament will then shift to North Africa and Europe. This proposal was put forth by UEFA, the Confederation of African Football and South American confederation CONMEBOL. The hosting arrangement is now awaiting formal approval by FIFA's congress.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino, talking at a FIFA Council meeting, said: “In a divided world, FIFA and football are uniting. The FIFA council, representing the entire world of football, unanimously agreed to celebrate the centenary of the first World Cup whose first edition was played in Uruguay in the most appropriate way.
“As a result a celebration will take place in South America and three South America countries - Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina - will host one match each.
“The first of these three matches will of course be played at the stadium where it all began, in Montevideo’s mythical Estadio Centennario, precisely to celebrate the centenary edition of the FIFA World Cup."
Combined with the awarding of the 2026 finals to the United States, Canada and Mexico, what all this means is that the 2034 finals will see only bids from the Asian Football Confederation and the Oceania Football Confederation considered.
That puts Saudi Arabia, firmly as the front-runner to take the tournament back to the Middle East.
Australia might also join the race, following their successful co-hosting of the Women's World Cup with New Zealand earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland is set to be rubber-stamped as the hosts of Euro 2028. Turkey withdrew from the bidding process to join with Italy Euro 2032 which leaves the way clear for the UK and Ireland to stage it in ten different stadiums.
UEFA, who will rubber stamp the decision on October 10, said: “The presentations at that meeting will be an important part of the process which will take due consideration of the content of the bid submissions before reaching a decision.
Wembley, Cardiff ’s Principality Stadium, Dublin Arena, Hampden Park and Belfast’s Casement Park are among the ten stadiums which will host games.
The other confirmed stadiums are Etihad in Manchester, Everton's new ground at Bramley Moore Dock, St James' Park, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Villa Park.
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