The day before, the authoritative British publication The Times reported that, although not sensational by football standards, then such news was very close – Ukraine could host the matches of the last part of the 2030 World Cup. It is true that under favorable conditions our country will be only one of the three hosts of the world championship, but this fact in itself deserves serious attention.

What is known about the possible application of Ukraine at the moment to host the final part of the 2030 World Cup, what are our chances, who can be safely called allies and who can be called competitors? Let’s try to solve it together…

When will the last part of the 2030 World Cup be held?

Let’s start from the beginning. Currently, the last part of the 2030 World Cup is scheduled to take place in the summer, as before. This tournament will be a turning point for all world football because it will take place exactly 100 years after its premiere in the history of the world championship. It was therefore expected that FIFA would resort to some form of symbolism in determining the host country or host countries, but Gianni Infantino, the head of the organization, said in 2021, “We have more candidates for the right to host.” tournament the better” and also promised to make the venue selection “clean” and “transparent” for the 2030 World Cup.

How did the Ukrainian option come about?

Pretty unexpected. On the eve of the same The Times reported that Ukraine could host the final part of the 2030 World Cup, along with Spain and Portugal, who have long worked on their joint application.

In particular, the English publication states that the option to include Ukraine in the Spanish-Portuguese practice was authorized by the President of our country, Volodymyr Zelensky, and was fully agreed with the governments of Spain and Portugal. The format of the trilateral cooperation is expected to be officially announced by the football authorities of Spain and Portugal, who will hold a special press conference on this occasion at UEFA headquarters in Switzerland on Wednesday, 5 October.

What can Ukraine demand?

The thing at the moment is that if his joint application with Ukraine, Spain and Portugal is the winner in the voting, he will fully accept the matches of one of the groups of the final tournament. It is possible that these plans will be corrected later and that our country will have the opportunity to host many more world championship fights.

By agreeing to include Ukraine in the joint practice, the governments of Spain and Portugal and the football authorities of these countries express their confidence that by 2030 the war launched by Russia in Ukraine will end and by 2030 active recovery processes will begin. The country that will positively affect all elements of the infrastructure, including sports and logistics.

It is also worth noting that starting from the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico, 48 teams will take part in the final part of the tournament, not 32. FIFA approved the relevant decision at the beginning of 2017, so the organization of the competitive process will obviously require more football stadiums than before.

Who else wants to host the 2030 World Cup?

Currently, FIFA has not received official applications to host the final episode of the World Cup in 2030, but it should be noted that their admission only started this year. So far, four existing solutions are known to be valid. Morocco from the African Football Confederation (CAF) came forward with its desire to organize a world championship, a joint application is being prepared from Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile from South America CONMEBOL, and a joint application from Spain and Spain from UEFA. Portugal has been formally ratified and now probably Ukraine will join as well. In addition, there is a rather exotic cross-confederation draft application that will include representatives from UEFA, CAF and AFC – Greece, Egypt and Saudi Arabia respectively.

It is likely that we will see applications being prepared from other applicants in the near future. The press reported particularly interested in hosting the final part of the 2030 World Cup from Algeria, Cameroon and Tunisia; Australia and Indonesia; Chinese; Colombia, Ecuador and Peru; Kazakhistan; Israel, UAE and Bahrain.

Who is considered a favourite?

As of now, experts have identified two potential favorite proposals – a joint proposal by Spain and Portugal that Ukraine could join, as well as a confederation proposal from Greece, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

In favor of the latter, the Crown Prince has serious political and economic ties, in addition to the wide geography and, as a result, the expansion of opportunities to receive support from representatives of the three confederations simultaneously (UEFA, CAF and AFC). Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, 37, from Saudi Arabia. It has been playing on many diplomatic, religious and economic chessboards lately. In particular, Prince Mohammed helped organize the exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia, as a result of which our side was able to extradite Mariupol and Azovstal Defense Heroes, as well as several foreign fighters who fought on the Ukrainian side.

Some Western countries believe that Prince Mohammed is responsible for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which took place at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. In order to normalize relations with the West and improve his own reputation, the crown prince is trying in every possible way to demonstrate its importance and usefulness for the world community. For example, in football, the Saudis bought the Newcastle Premier League club and, unexpectedly for many, relied on Eddie Howe without billions of dollars where the Magpies are currently performing very well in the strongest league on the continent. investment to strengthen staff.

But the option with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Greece has a number of obvious drawbacks. First, in this case, we will most likely have to talk about holding the last part of the 2030 World Cup in winter, as this year in Qatar. This is due to the climatic characteristics of the region, and football extras are unlikely to be inspired by such prospects, even for the very big bucks. In addition, the Asian region will host the World Cup in 2022 and the unspoken principle of geographic rotation that FIFA is trying to adhere to also opposes this practice, although armed with the support of Greece and Egypt. Also, definitely remember that FIFA itself will at least try to somehow clean up its reputation, which was damaged after the selection of the host countries of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Then we recall that the main football body of the planet was openly accused of the fact that the key decision was taken under the influence of financial circumstances, or more simply, as a result of open bribes to officials.

In this context, many believe that the 2030 World Cup will take place on the fields of Spain and Portugal, where Ukraine is ready to participate. In September last year, UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin expressed this view.

“I am confident that the 2030 World Cup will be held in Spain and Portugal. This is a winning bid and we will do our best to help two countries that are passionate, living and breathing football and have a good infrastructure,” he said.

Ukraine’s involvement in this practice can only strengthen it geopolitically, because now our country’s support in the world community is very high, even though the enemy and a few of its partners are trying to achieve the opposite.

When will the final decision be made?

Voting and selection of the winner will take place at the 74th FIFA Congress, scheduled for 2024. Next, we’ll find out exactly where the final part of the 2030 World Cup will take place.