2030 FIFA World Cup
Upcoming association football tournament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2030 FIFA World Cup is due to 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 tournament is planned to be jointly hosted by Morocco, Portugal, and Spain. In honour of the 100th anniversary of the first FIFA World Cup in 1930, a special match and celebration is scheduled to be held at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Uruguay—host stadium of the 1930 final, as well as one match each in Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Estadio Osvaldo Domínguez Dibb in Asunción, Paraguay.
Portugal
Spain
- Centenary match hosts:
- Argentina
- Paraguay
- Uruguay
| Copa Mundial de la FIFA 2030 (Spanish) Campeonato do Mundo da FIFA de 2030 (Portuguese) كأس العالم فيفا 2030 (Arabic) ⴰⴽⵔⵡⴰⵙ ⵏ ⵓⵎⴰⴹⴰⵍ 2030 (Standard Moroccan Tamazight) | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host countries | Morocco Portugal Spain
|
| Dates | 8 June – 21 July[1] |
| Teams | TBA[2] (from 6 confederations) |
| Venue | TBA (including centenary match hosts) (in TBA host cities) |
← 2026 2034 → | |
This would be the first World Cup in Africa since 2010, the first ever in North Africa, first across the Mediterranean Sea, first in South America since 2014, and first in Europe since 2018. It would be the first to be held in Morocco, Paraguay, and Portugal, and the first in Uruguay since the inaugural tournament in 1930, Argentina since 1978, and Spain since 1982.
Possible format and expansion
At the March 2025 FIFA Council meeting, CONMEBOL proposed a one-off 64-team expansion to honour the tournament's centennial anniversary.[3] Later that year, CONMEBOL leaders met directly with FIFA president Gianni Infantino in New York City to discuss the expansion. Critics claim devaluing of the qualification process and reduction in competition quality should 64 teams, 30% of FIFA members as of 2025, qualify for the tournament.[4]
Host selection
FIFA launched the bidding process in 2022.[5][6] Because of the rule preventing countries belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments to host the next,[7] members of AFC and CONCACAF could not bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup[8][9]–AFC as hosts of the World Cup in 2022 (Qatar), and CONCACAF as hosts in 2026 (United States, Canada, and Mexico).
During a 0–0 friendly between Portugal and Spain on 7 October 2020, the FPF and RFEF announced their intentions to produce a joint bid for the tournament.[10] Almost two years later, on 5 October 2022, the federations held a joint press conference alongside the Ukrainian Association of Football president Andriy Pavelko. On 29 November, The Guardian reported the Ukrainian part of the bid was likely dead due to Pavelko's arrest on suspicion of embezzlement.[11][12]
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation–failing to secure hosting rights in 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010 and 2026–bid for the sixth time.[13][14] On 14 March 2023, King Mohammed VI announced that Morocco would join the Portuguese–Spanish bid.[15][16]
On 11 December 2024, FIFA confirmed the 2030 World Cup would be jointly hosted by Morocco, Portugal, and Spain. During an extraordinary FIFA Congress meeting, this announcement was made alongside the decision to award the 2034 tournament to Saudi Arabia.[17]
| 2024 Extraordinary FIFA Congress 11 December 2024 – Zürich, Switzerland[a] | |
| Nation | Round 1 |
|---|---|
 Morocco,  Portugal,  Spain |
Acclamation |
Proposed venues
Prior to finalising the bid book on 31 July 2024, the Royal Spanish Football Federation announced its proposed 11 stadiums in 9 cities to host matches.[18] The host city list was finalised 12 days later. It includes six stadiums in six cities in Morocco, three stadiums in two cities in Portugal, and eleven stadiums in nine cities in Spain for a total of twenty stadiums in seventeen cities.[19]
In April 2025, some residents of San Sebastián wrote to FIFA asking to be removed as a host city amid overtourism.[20] On 12 July 2025, Málaga withdrew due to logistical reasons regarding the renovation of Estadio La Rosaleda.[21] On 15 March 2026, the mayor of A Coruña, Inés Rey, and also the president of Deportivo La Coruña, Juan Carlos Escotet, announced they would withdraw as host city due to hosting costs despite having plans to upgrade the Estadio de Riazor.[22]
Towards the end of March 2026, it was reported that the Royal Spanish Football Federation had submitted bids for Nou Mestalla in Valencia, and Estadio de Balaídos in Vigo, to replace Málaga and A Coruña's stadiums. Previous bids for these stadiums were turned down by FIFA for exceeding the limit of twenty stadiums per tournament.[23]
| Country | City | Stadium | Capacity | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morocco |
Agadir | Adrar Stadium | 46,000 (after renovation) |
 |
| Casablanca | Hassan II Stadium | 115,000 (new) |
 | |
| Fez | Fez Stadium | 55,800 (after renovation) |
 | |
| Marrakesh | Marrakesh Stadium | 45,860 (after renovation) |
 | |
| Rabat | Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium | 69,500 |  | |
| Tangier | Ibn Batouta Stadium | 75,500 |  | |
| Portugal |
Lisbon | Estádio da Luz | 68,100 |  |
| Estádio José Alvalade | 52,095 |  | ||
| Porto | Estádio do Dragão | 50,033 |  | |
| Spain |
Barcelona | Camp Nou | 105,000 (after renovation) |
 |
| RCDE Stadium | 40,500 |  | ||
| Bilbao | San Mamés Stadium | 53,331 |  | |
| Las Palmas | Estadio Gran Canaria | 44,500 (after renovation) |
 | |
| Madrid | Bernabéu | 83,186 |  | |
| Metropolitano Stadium | 70,692 |  | ||
| San Sebastián | Anoeta Stadium | 42,300 |  | |
| Seville | Estadio de La Cartuja | 70,000 |  | |
| Valencia | Nou Mestalla | 70,044 (new) |
 | |
| Vigo | Balaídos Stadium | 44,000 (after renovation) |
 | |
| Zaragoza | Nueva Romareda | 43,110 (new) |
|
Three South American cities were also selected in the bid book to host the three centenary matches.[24]
| Country | City | Stadium | Capacity | Image | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Argentina |
Buenos Aires | Estadio Monumental | 100,000 (after renovation)[25] |
 |
Location of the host cities of the 2030 FIFA World Cup centenary matches. |
 Paraguay |
Asunción | Estadio Osvaldo Domínguez Dibb | 46,000 (new) |
| |
 Uruguay |
Montevideo | Estadio Centenario | 62,782 (after renovation)[citation needed] |
 |
Teams
Qualification
All six host nations qualified for the World Cup.[26][27][28]
Format changes
Two regional confederations have announced changes to their qualifying format for this tournament:
CONCACAF
On 6 February 2026, CONCACAF announced their qualifying format for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.[29]
- Round 1: The 22 teams ranked 14–35 in the CONCACAF rankings will be drawn into pairs and play a home-and-away matchup during the first half of the September–October 2027 international window with the 11 winners advancing to Round 2.
- Round 2: The top 13 ranked associations in CONCACAF will be joined by the 11 winners from the Round 1 to create six groups of four teams with each facing each other home-and-away. The top two from each group advance to the final round. Round 2 will begin during the second half of the September–October 2027 international window with later matches in November 2027 and March 2028.
- Final round: The 12 teams that advanced from Round 2 will be divided up into three groups of four with each team facing each other home-and-away. The top two teams in each group will automatically qualify for the World Cup whilst the two better third-placed finishers will qualify for the Play-in. The Final round will be played in June 2028 and in the 2029 September–October international window.
- Play-in: The two teams will play each other home-and-away with the aggregate winner qualifying for the FIFA Intercontinental play-offs. The two matches will take place in November 2029.
UEFA
On 20 May 2026, UEFA announced a new qualification format mirroring both the Champions League and Nations League. A two-tier qualification process will be created where major teams will no longer play minor teams to remove uncompetitive games.
Under the new rules, the 36 highest-ranked countries—as determined by the 2028–29 Nations League—will be drawn into three groups of 12 in League 1. Teams in those groups would each play six games against six different opponents and be ranked in a 12-team league table. The best-ranked teams of each group of League 1 will qualify for the World Cup, with the remaining places allocated via play-offs. The remaining 18 lower-ranked countries will take part in League 2, split into three groups.
All teams in both Leagues will play six home-and-away matches and the system of play-offs will involve teams from both Leagues—those who fall short of direct qualification in League 1 along with top teams from League 2. More details are expected to be released in late 2026, once the 2026 FIFA World Cup has concluded.[30][31][32]
Marketing
Broadcasting rights
Sponsorship
| FIFA partners | FIFA World Cup sponsors |
|---|---|
Controversies
Manipulation of Spanish venues
On 23 March 2025, it was reported that the Royal Spanish Football Federation manipulated the classification scores when choosing the venues in order to exclude Balaídos Stadium and include Anoeta Stadium.[50]
Inclusion of centenary match hosts
With the FIFA rotation system,[51] CONCACAF (which won the rights to host the 2026 World Cup), CONMEBOL, UEFA, and CAF were unable to bid, leaving 2034 open only for the AFC and OFC. This led to accusations that FIFA intentionally selected these countries, especially those in the CONMEBOL region, to ensure that Saudi Arabia would win its bid for the 2034 tournament unopposed.[52][53]
Animal welfare concerns
Animal rights organisations have accused Morocco of killing stray dogs ahead of its co-hosting of the FIFA World Cup. These groups estimate the stray dog population at three million and have alleged that methods used include poisoning and shooting.[54][55][56]
In response, Moroccan authorities adopted Law 19-25 in 2025, which established a legal framework for the management of stray animals. The law introduced measures such as sterilisation, vaccination, identification, and the use of shelters, and restricted the killing of stray animals.[57][58]
Occupation of Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a non-self-governing territory that has been under Moroccan military occupation since 1975. Analysts expect that Morocco will use the World Cup to bolsters its claim over Western Sahara, such as through sportswashing.[59][60][61] Morocco initially planned to build a stadium in Dakhla for the World Cup,[62] though ultimately no matches will take place in the territory.[63] Morocco regularly expels journalists who bring attention towards the occupation.[64] It is doubling its green energy production in the territory to meet its own demands for the World Cup.[65]
In their 2030 bid document, Morocco, Spain, and Portugal included a map that depicted Western Sahara as Moroccan territory; FIFA's bid evaluation report did not reproduce this map.[63] In February 2025, the Court of Arbitration for Sports ruled that jerseys could not display "the image of a map of Morocco including Western Sahara".[66]
2025 Gen Z protests
In late September 2025, a series of protests erupted in several cities in Morocco led by the youth movement known as Gen Z 212.[67][68] The protests were sparked by the deterioration of the country's health and education systems and the government's excessive spending on sports infrastructure in preparation for hosting the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2030 FIFA World Cup.[69][70][71][72]
Notes
- The FIFA extraordinary congress was held online.
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}