2030 FIFA World Cup

2030 FIFA World Cup
The 2030 FIFA World Cup will be the 24th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The 2030 World Cup will mark the centennial World Cup competition. For the first time, three countries from two continents will host the competition, with Spain, Portugal and Morocco as host nations. Additionally, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will serve as nations that open the event, as a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup in Uruguay. This will be the first World Cup held in Africa since 2010, in South America since 2014, as well as in Europe since 2018.
Host selection
FIFA launched the bidding process in earnest in 2022. As hosts of the 2022 and 2026 editions respectively, the 2030 FIFA World Cup cannot be hosted by a member of the Asian AFC or the North American CONCACAF.
Hosts are required to have at least fourteen all-seater stadiums with a capacity of 40,000, with a minimum of seven being pre-existing. The opening match and final must take place in an 80,000-seat stadium, while the semi-finals must take place in a 60,000-seat stadium. Hosts must also have at least 72 suitable training site options for team base camps, four suitable venue-specific training site options per stadium, in addition to two suitable referee base camp training site options, all with suitable accommodation. The FIFA Council also regulates requirements relating to broadcasting sites, competition-related event sites, as well as accommodation. In addition, sustainability, environmental protections and human rights will also be factors considered by the council, along with governmental support, the organisational model to be used, besides provisions for the establishment of a "legacy fund".
Potential venues
† denotes stadium used for previous men's World Cup tournament (Argentina, Spain and Uruguay only)
⋆ planned stadiums to be built
+ stadiums that will undergo renovation
Centenary ceremony match host cities:
Teams
Qualification
All six host nations will qualify for the World Cup.
Concerns
The 2030 FIFA World Cup has already been met with backlash from fans, football officials, and environmental groups with them noting the large distance between South America and Europe would require considerable plane travel, which would increase the carbon footprint and negate FIFA's carbon neutral plans. They have also noted the issues for fans of teams who would get drawn with Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, as well as the short amount of rest once those teams travel back to the main hosts. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter warned that the amount of hosts that the 2030 FIFA World Cup has would cause the tournament to "lose its identity". Others have noted that with the FIFA rotation system, CONCACAF (which hosted the 2026 FIFA World Cup), CONMEBOL, UEFA, and CAF would be unable to bid, leaving 2034 open to the AFC and OFC, which has led to accusations that FIFA selected the hosts in order to ensure that Saudi Arabia, an AFC member with major human rights controversies, would have their bid unopposed.
References
2030
2030 in association football
2030 in Africa
Scheduled association football competitions
International association football competitions hosted by Argentina
International association football competitions hosted by Paraguay
International association football competitions hosted by Uruguay
International association football competitions hosted by Spain
International association football competitions hosted by Portugal
International association football competitions hosted by Morocco