The 2030 FIFA World Cup will be hosted by Morocco, Spain and Portugal, but the first three matches of the tournament will be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay to mark the tournament’s 100th anniversary.
The final three countries had hoped to host the tournament as a whole, but the competition will be played mainly in Europe and North Africa – the first ever edition to be held on multiple continents.
The Athletic reports that the opening ceremonies will still take place in Morocco, Spain and Portugal, and the rest of the tournament will be played in those three countries after Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay opened their accounts.
This automatically qualifies all six nations for the World Cup – another unprecedented first – and marks the first time Morocco has succeeded in competing for the tournament after five previous attempts had failed.
Portugal will also be hosting for the first time with failed bids in 2018 and 2022 in their back pocket, but Spain has a history of hosting the tournament dating back to 1982.
Argentina are the current holders of the World Cup after seeing off France in a thrilling penalty shoot-out at the end of 2022 – the victory definitively ending Lionel Messi’s bid to win international football’s most prestigious prize after defeat in the 2014 final against Germany.
In view of FIFA’s continental rotation policy, bids from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Oceanic Football Confederation (OFC) are likely to be considered for 2034.
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