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 event will mark the centennial of the first World Cup. Host selection. The first proposed bid for the 2030 World Cup was by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation after losing its bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Morocco has been possibly planning to co-bid with its eastern neighbours Algeria and Tunisia or its northern neighbours Spain and Portugal. The second was by joint  bid from the Argentine Football Association and Uruguayan Football Association. The third was by The Football Association, representing England. On 8 October 2020, the Royal Spanish Football Federation and the Portuguese Football Federation confirmed that the two countries would be putting forward a joint Iberian bid to host the World Cup. It was officially presented on 4 June 2021. Under FIFA rules as of 2017, the 2030 World Cup cannot be held in Asia (AFC), as its members are excluded from the bidding following the selection of Qatar in 2022, or in North America (CONCACAF), where the 2026 edition  will be hosted in Canada, Mexico and the United States. The joint bid by Argentina and Uruguay was announced on 29 July 2017. Before a match between Uruguay and Argentina in Montevideo four weeks later, Uruguay's Luis Suárez and Argentina's Lionel Messi – then teammates at FC Barcelona – promoted the bid with commemorative shirts. On 31 August, it was suggested Paraguay would join as a third host. CONMEBOL, the South American confederation, confirmed the joint three-way bid in September. The Uruguay–Argentina–Paraguay bid would coincide with the centennial anniversary of the first FIFA World Cup final hosted  by Uruguay as well as the bicentennial of the first Constitution of Uruguay. On 14 February 2019, Chile revealed their plans to join the three confirmed countries in hosting the tournament. Chile was accepted in the bid and will become the first-ever quartet to bid for the World Cup. In 2015, vice-chairman of The Football Association David Gill stated that his country could potentially bid for 2030, provided that the bidding process was made more transparent. Journalist Ben Rumsby wrote, "England is one of few countries that could stage even a 48-nation event in its entirety, while  Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn made it clear earlier that year bidding for 2030 was an option." In June 2017, UEFA's president Aleksander Čeferin stated that Europe (UEFA) would definitely fight for its "turn" to host the World Cup in 2030. The same month, UEFA stated that "it would support a pan-British bid for 2030 or even a single bid from England." The bidding timeline was announced by the FIFA Council at their meeting in Shanghai, China on 24 October 2019: The bidding process is set to be launched in the second quarter of 2022 and the  host will be chosen at the 74th FIFA Congress in 2024. Like the 2026 World Cup, it is possible the selection will be done earlier than schedule, and may also announce the host of the 2034 FIFA World Cup at the same time. African bids. On 17 June 2018, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation announced its co-bidding for the 2030 World Cup. There are two possible joint bids: one with Tunisia and Algeria, and the other with Spain and Portugal. On 10 July, Egypt's Sports Minister expressed interest in bidding to host. On 29 September, the executive board  of the Union of North African Football Federations (UNAF) announced its interest in submitting a joint North African bid for the 2030 World Cup. In July 2019, Egyptian Football Association president Hany Abo Rida said Egypt would be ready to host a 48-team World Cup. Cameroonian then-presidential candidate Joshua Osih's political program included nominating his country along with two sub-Saharan African countries to host the 2030 World Cup, according to Cameroonian channel CRTV. Interest had been thought to be high among many sub-Saharan African countries with the most likely being two from Republic of the  Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Central African Republic, Nigeria or Angola to join Cameroon in bidding for the 2030 World Cup. At the 2018 Cameroonian presidential election, Osih lost to re-elected long-time incumbent Paul Biya. European bids. Spain - Portugal. On 13 September 2018, Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez discussed the possibility of Spain bidding for the 2030 World Cup with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Royal Spanish Football Federation President Luis Rubiales. On 8 June 2019, Spain and Portugal expressed an interest about co-hosting the World Cup. On 8 October 2020, Spain and Portugal  confirmed that the two countries would be putting forward a joint bid to host the World Cup. The FPF and RFEF jointly announced their intentions to bid for the tournament during a goalless friendly match between the two countries' national teams on 7 October. Before another goalless friendly between the two teams on 4 June 2021 (which also marked the centenary of Portugal's first international fixture, against Spain) the agreement to jointly support a bid was formalised. The respective presidents of the RFEF and FPF, Luis Rubiales and Fernando Gomes, ratified the agreement on behalf of their respective federations . Also in attendance to support the bid were King of Spain Felipe VI, President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Portugal António Costa, and multiple government ministers and officials from both countries. Southeast Europe. On 2 November 2018, the leaders of Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Serbia confirmed their intention to compete to host the tournament considering a combined bid. On 25 February 2019, it was officially confirmed that Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece would submit joint candidacy for the organisation of the UEFA Euro 2028 and the 2030 World Cup. The  ministers signed a memorandum of understanding on 10 April. South American bids. On 7 September 2019, President of Ecuador Lenín Moreno proposed a joint bid for organising the 2030 World Cup alongside Colombia and Peru. On 14 September, President of Colombia Ivan Duque confirmed Colombia would bid to host the World Cup along with Ecuador and Peru. He also claimed President of Peru Martin Vizcarra said this World Cup was important. Asian bids. Current FIFA rules block Asian Football Confederation nations from hosting any World Cup until 2034, following the selection of Qatar for the 2022 event. Nevertheless, South Korea 's then-President Moon Jae-in suggested in June 2017 that the 2030 World Cup be hosted by a Northeast Asian block including both South Korea and North Korea, saying it would improve relations in the region. Chung Mong-gyu, the head of the Korea Football Association, renewed the offer to the DPR Korea Football Association, the Chinese Football Association and the Japan Football Association at the FIFA Congress in June 2018. South Korean president Moon discussed the proposal again with Infantino during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. On 5 June 2019, FIFA President Gianni Infantino referred to the FIFA  Council meeting in October 2019 when he was asked for an update on the rules and timeline for the bidding process adding "We'll also see if there can be a bid from China". On 12 August 2021, it was reported that Football Australia had begun preliminary discussions with state-based major events officials, with Sydney 2000 Olympics bid chief Rod McGeoch beginning work on a bid. Possible cross-confederation bids. Saudi Arabian-led bid. Saudi Arabia (an AFC member) has been linked with a bid to host the 2030 World Cup. Saudi Arabia has never hosted a World Cup  before. It has been thought Saudi Arabia's bid would involve a co-host, with rumoured possibilities including Morocco or Egypt (both CAF members who also have never hosted a World Cup before like Saudi Arabia) or Italy (a UEFA member which previously hosted the World Cup in 1934 and 1990). Israeli-led bid. On 13 October 2021, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett released a statement announcing Israel, a member of UEFA, had been exploring a potential joint bid with other signatories of the Abraham Accords, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, both  members of the AFC. Neither Israel, Bahrain nor the United Arab Emirates has also ever hosted a World Cup before. However, both Israel and the UAE have hosted editions of the Asian Cup, which was held in Israel in 1964, and in the UAE in 1996 and 2019. Confirmed plans to bid. CAF CONMEBOL UEFA Expressed interest in bidding. AFC CAF CONMEBOL UEFA Inter-confederation Abandoned bids. UEFA United Kingdom and Ireland joint bid. On 17 June 2018, England's The Football Association announced that they were in talks with home nations over a UK-wide bid to host 2030  World Cup. On 1 August, it was reported that the FA was preparing a bid for England to host the World Cup in 2030. A decision was expected to be made in 2019, after the FA conducted a feasibility study on a potential bid. UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin wanted only one European bid to host the World Cup. He also considered the British bid as the wisest idea. There are also talks about the Football Association of Ireland joining a possible British bid. The Scottish Football Association considered the potential British bid as a great opportunity to get funds to  renovate and redevelop Hampden Park in Glasgow, the Scotland national football team's home stadium. On 19 September, the Football Association of Ireland confirmed it joined the feasibility study for co-hosting the 2030 World Cup with England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. On 28 September, the then British Prime Minister Theresa May announced that the British Government would back any British and Irish FIFA World Cup bid. Furthermore, The Football Association and the Football Association of Wales confirmed that the five national governing bodies were in discussions about the feasibility of bidding to host the World Cup. On 15  July, deputy leader of the UK Labour Party, Tom Watson, earlier said that he and his party backed a 2030 World Cup bid for the UK. On 16 July, the then British Prime Minister Theresa May expressed her support for the bid. Although there had been no prior discussion with the Football Association, the Scottish FA also expressed an interest in joining a Home Nations bid. Former Scottish First Minister Henry McLeish called on the Scottish government and the Scottish Football Association to bid for the 2030 World Cup with the other British nations. On 1 March 2021, Prime Minister  of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, expressed interest in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland hosting this World Cup, with the Treasury expected to pump £2.8 million into a bid for 2030. Feasibility studies by the Irish government and the UK government (including the devolved governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) have subsequently been initiated. Johnson added "We are very, very keen to bring football home in 2030." The football associations of the bidding nations issued a joint statement saying that they were delighted with the government's commitment to the bid. Following scenes of crowd  disorder at the UEFA Euro 2020 final between England and Italy held on 11 July 2021 at Wembley Stadium Boris Johnson reiterated his hope that the UK and Ireland could still host the 2030 World Cup. On 5 January 2022, the five football associations announced a joint United Kingdom and Ireland bid for the Euro 2028, which made their own World Cup bid "unlikely to succeed" and rendered it doubtful. On 7 February, it was also announced that the 2030 bid would be abandoned and that the UK and Ireland would instead focus on a bid to host Euro 2028