The World Cup Qatar 2022 It is already history and that is why planning has already begun not only for the next tournament, North America 2026, but also for the next one, in 2030, which will mark the edition of centenary.

Several countries have already expressed interest in hosting in 2030 and FIFA’s selection process will span two years before a final decision is made in 2024, six years before the event.

Starting in 2026, the World Cup will expand to a 48-team tournament, likely forcing future hosts to work together to host such an event. There have only been two joint bids in the history of the men’s World Cup, but several multinational bids for 2030 are already in the works.

The first men’s World Cup tournament was held in 1930 and is held every four years, except for 1942 and 1946, due to World War II. The 2030 event will be the 24th edition, unless world soccer’s governing body FIFA succeeds in making it a biennial event.

When will the 2030 World Cup venue be announced? The timeline of the application process

The bidding process officially started in the second quarter of 2022 and FIFA announced that The host will be chosen at the 74th FIFA Congress in 2024.

This means the chosen host will have six years to prepare for the 2030 tournament.

However, the choice can be made earlier, as was once considered with the 2026 World Cup. In that case, the United Bid of the United States, Canada and Mexico requested an expedited bidding process, as no rival bid had been submitted at the time. However, FIFA rejected this request and Morocco eventually submitted a competing bid.

The nominations for the organization of the 2030 World Cup

Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay

The first officially proposed bid to FIFA for the 2030 World Cup was a joint South American bid by Uruguay and Argentina, announced in July 2017.

The biggest attraction of this offer is that Uruguay hosted the first World Cup in 1930, and on the centenary of the first FIFA tournament, it would certainly be very attractive to celebrate the monumental tournament at the place where it all began.

Months after the bid was officially announced, Paraguay joined as the third host, while Chile was accepted as part of the bid in 2019. This is first offer from four countries to organize a World Cup.

Three of the four nations in this bid have already hosted a World Cup in the past. Uruguay hosted the first World Cup in 1930, while Chile hosted the World Cup in 1962 and Argentina in 1978. Paraguay is the only country in the group that has not hosted a World Cup before, although it has hosted tournaments in the past since FIFA : FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2019.

Spain, Portugal and Ukraine

Spain and Portugal became the second official bid for the 2030 FIFA World Cup after it was announced in October 2020.

Known as the “Iberian bid” in reference to the Iberian Peninsula, where two of these nations are located, it is the second time Spain and Portugal have made a joint bid for a World Cup after failing to host it in 2018. or 2022 .

In early October 2022, it was announced that Ukraine would join their bid, with the intention of hosting a group. With the new expansion to 48 teams, Ukraine would host three countries playing three matches in the group stage.

Spain will be the main host for this tournament, with 11 Spanish stadiums selected from a list of 15 selected stadiums. Meanwhile, three Portuguese stadiums will be included and an undisclosed number of Ukrainian stadiums will be selected, although only one would likely be needed to host the small number of matches envisaged.

Spain has already hosted one World Cup, that of 1982, in which Italy prevailed. Interestingly, Portugal, a country rich in football, has never hosted a World Cup, although it did host a Euro Cup in 2004. Ukraine has also hosted a Euro Cup, along with Poland in 2012.

Could Ukraine host the 2030 World Cup? The problems facing the country

Ukraine, at war with Russia, is an exciting addition to Europe’s bid for the 2030 World Cup. With the tournament still eight years away, it’s hard to imagine this conflict going on for that long, but it will still take years to prepare for the tournament. , and it is unclear what Ukraine’s ability to do so will be in the coming years.

Even so, with such a small number of games to undertake, his inclusion in the European bid could be a valuable slap in the face for FIFA’s member nations, but also a hit to the wallets as he tries to appeal to the emotions of fans across the the world.

Many reports claim that the nomination has the endorsement of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has become a popular and well-liked figure in his bid to stop the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine.

However, not everyone has fallen in love with the new addition, with some blaming the European candidacy the political attitude. Moreover, the fact that Ukraine will host so few matches is not without curiosity. In the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, each country will host at least 10 games. The fact that Ukraine receives only three games raises doubts about the need for this Eastern European country to participate.

Also, the Iberian nations of Spain and Portugal are not geographically close to Ukraine. Most joint offers tend to include geographically close countries to keep the “host” concept intact, even across borders. There is no doubt that there will be competitive considerations for the teams that have to travel from Ukraine to play their matches.

The candidates addressed this issue in their announcement. “Our candidacy is no longer an Iberian candidacy, it is a European candidacy”said the president of the Spanish RFEF, Luis Rubiales, at a press conference he gave at the Swiss headquarters of UEFA after the announcement of Ukraine’s participation.

“I am convinced that now our candidacy is much better than before. Football is global and if it can change people’s lives in so many ways, it should also serve to do good.”

Morocco

Morocco announced its bid for the 2030 World Cup in June 2018. The African nation has attempted to bid on five previous occasions, the most recent being the joint bid by the United States, Canada and Mexico for the 2026 tournament.

Only one African country has hosted the World Cup in the past: South Africa in 2010.

The Moroccan bid for the 2026 tournament, which materialized late in the process, included an intention to spend $16 billion on the preparation of the tournament, including infrastructure, facilities, hospitality and venues.

If a joint Saudi-Egyptian bid proposal does not materialize, it is possible that Egypt will join this joint bid before the process is completed and a vote is taken. There has also been talk of Algeria and Tunisia as possible additions in the future.

Other possible bids to host the 2030 World Cup

One of the nominations that is getting stronger is the intercontinental one, in which Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The official FIFA rules regarding the continental rotation to determine that the Asian confederation, to which Saudi Arabia belongs, are not eligible to host the World Cup after being awarded to Qatar. The possibility that Greece unite in this nomination. Cristiano Ronaldo’s signing from Saudi Arabia’s Al Nasr in early 2023 is believed to be part of the bid of this country to co-host the 2030 World Cup.

There are another possible candidate of the coalition in which they participate Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Serbia, but despite the nations’ expressed interest in working together, it’s unclear whether it will go ahead and compete with Spain-Portugal-Ukraine. This candidacy seems to be losing ground, as well UEFA strongly supports the Iberian bid.

These are the only options in Europe after The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland will withdraw their candidacy and will focus on hosting the 2028 Euro Cup, claiming it has a better chance of taking over the European Championship rights.

The venues of all World Cups in history

Europe has hosted 11 of the 23 tournaments, while South America has hosted five editions. The remaining seven World Cup events are split between North America (4), Asia (2) and Africa (1).