The battle to host the men’s football World Cup in 2030 has just become more interesting with a fourth confirmed bid submitted to FIFA. Four South American countries – Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay – have joined forces in a bid to sway the governing body, and if successful this would be the first edition of the World Cup in history to be played across a quartet of host nations.
The first ever World Cup was played back in 1930, and the hosts – and winners – Uruguay want to celebrate the centenary in style on home soil alongside their neighbours. “There will be more World Cups, but the cup only turns 100 one time, and it needs to come home,” said the president of the South American football association CONMEBOL, Alejandro Dominguez. He goes on to say, “This is the dream of a continent.”
Argentina also have winning experience of hosting the World Cup – they prevailed in 1978 on home soil, while Chile enjoyed a fine run to the semi-finals when they welcomed the Jules Rimet trophy back in 1962. While Paraguay are yet to host the World Cup, they have previously put on the beach soccer equivalent, and they have two stadiums in the capital city of Asuncion with a capacity in excess of 40,000.
The bid could have legs given that it would also be 16 years since South America last hosted the World Cup, with Brazil last bestowed the honour in 2014. FIFA generally likes to award hosting duties on a rotational basis continent by continent, and so this offer helmed by Uruguay and Argentina, certainly seems viable.
Who Will Host World Cup 2030?
If we use FIFA’s rotational policy as a guide, we note the following cycle:
- 2018 – Russia (Europe)
- 2022 – Qatar (Middle East/Asia)
- 2026 – USA, Canada, Mexico (North America)
So next on the bill, you suspect, would be a bid from Central/South America, Africa or the Caribbean. Neither Central America nor the Caribbean nations have the infrastructure to host a major tournament like the World Cup, but there are active bids from South America (as mentioned) and Africa on the table.
Morocco, who have bid a number of times to host the World Cup before and always come up short, are once again on the docket. This will be the fifth time that they have attempted to win the rights, so could it be sixth time lucky in 2030? FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, seems to be keen to get Morocco involved, although perhaps not as a sole bidder. According to a report in The Times, he has tried to persuade Spain and Portugal to include the African nation in their joint bid.
The Balkan region is yet to host the World Cup, and that is the main draw of the joint offer submitted to FIFA by Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania. They certainly have the stadiums and infrastructure required, but a European bid is more likely to succeed in 2034 once the rotational rolls back round to this continent.
We do know that the UK won’t be hosting the World Cup in 2030 – they, along with the Republic of Ireland, are thought to be a leading contender to welcome Euro 2028 instead. We should find out who will host the 2030 World Cup when FIFA makes their decision at some point in 2024.