Only four years before the next men’s World Cup – what can we expect from the 2030 edition? | 2026 World Cup
IIf the 2026 World Cup was the biggest edition of the tournament to date – with 48 teams for the first time in its 96-year history, played in three different countries – the 2030 World Cup will have an even bigger footprint.
How many countries will host the 2030 World Cup?
With three technologies. The tournament is expected to be jointly hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain, which will be the first time that the World Cup has been held in more than one confederation and the first time that it will visit North Africa.
In addition, however, and in honor of the 100th anniversary of the World Cup, a special match is scheduled to be held at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Uruguay – the stadium that hosted the 1930 World Cup final. There will also be one match between Argentina and Paraguay.
How does this happen?
The 2030 World Cup bidding process began in earnest in 2022, with the host to be officially selected at the 2024 FIFA conference. The governing body’s intercontinental tournament rules meant that football confederations from Asia (AFC) and North America (Concacaf) were ineligible to host the tournament following bids for Qatar 2022 and North America 2026 respectively.
Uefa allies Spain and Portugal – unsuccessful in 2018 and 2022 and ineligible in 2026 – have added Morocco to their joint bid for 2023. In the same year, the confederations of Conmebol Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile presented their joint bid, with the name of the tournament proposed “World Cup of the Century”.
In October 2023, the Fifa council unanimously chose the Morocco-Portugal-Spain bid over the South American bid.
And why does South America still host some games?
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has announced that Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will host one match each to celebrate the centenary of the World Cup “in a proper way”. Uruguay hosted – and won – the first game of the tournament with Argentina being beaten 4-2 in the final. A match will also be played in Paraguay to honor the country’s role as the home of Conmebol, the only confederation that existed in 1930.
Fifa also announced a “unique event to celebrate the centenary”, which is scheduled to take place in Montevideo a week before the start of the tournament on 13 June 2030.
How many teams will participate?
At first the idea was to have 48 teams again, but during this World Cup Infantino raised the hope that it will be expanded with 16 other countries.
“Definitely that is an issue that will be studied and discussed in the relevant committees after the World Cup,” said Infantino. “When you organize the World Cup, it is important to organize it for the whole world – not just for Europe and South America – but effectively for the whole world.
The expansion had been proposed in 2025 when the president of Conmebol, Alejandro Domínguez, made a formal proposal to increase the number of participating teams to 64 to honor the centenary of the tournament. “[It] it will be different because 100 years are celebrated only once,” said Domínguez.
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What will it look like?
Spain last hosted the World Cup in 1982, the final of which featured Italy defeating West Germany at the Bernabéu. Portugal and Morocco have hosted various major sporting events, including Euro 2004 and Afcon 2025.
The 2030 World Cup will be held in 17 host cities – one more than in 2026 – with 11 of the 20 proposed stadiums in Spain. Among the 17 host cities are Marrakech and Tangier in Morocco, Porto and Lisbon in Portugal and Barcelona, Madrid and San Sebastián in Spain.
The talking point so far?
Without a doubt the inclusion of the hosts of the games of the century. By rejecting the request to host South America but announcing that Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will host one match, Fifa has confirmed that CONMEBOL will not be able to benefit from the 2034 World Cup with Asia and Oceania being the only continents that can host it. (The 2034 plan has been handed over to Saudi Arabia, a decision heavily criticized by human rights groups).
And beyond that?
Well, who knows? After the intervention of Donald Trump and the suspension of the red card of Folarin Balogun, can we see the king of Spain, Felipe VI, involved after fighting with the fanatical Lamine Yamal in the last 64? With these guys in charge, nothing is off the table.
