2030 FIFA World Cup
Upcoming association football tournament in Morocco, Portugal and Spain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2030 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to be the 24th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament that is 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 edition in 1930, a special match and celebration are 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[A]
| 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) | |
|---|---|
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| Tournament details | |
| Host countries | Morocco Portugal Spain[A] |
| Dates | 8 June – 21 July[1] |
| Teams | TBA[2] (from 6 confederations) |
| Venue | TBA |
← 2026 2034 → | |
The tournament will be the first World Cup held in more than one confederation, the first in Africa since 2010, and the first ever in North Africa. It will be the first held in Morocco, Paraguay, and Portugal, and the second in Uruguay, Argentina, and Spain, after 1930, 1978, and 1982 respectively.
Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay all automatically qualified for the tournament as hosts, with Spain becoming the first ever defending champions to host the tournament after winning their second World Cup in 2026.
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. In July 2026, Infantino stated that he would consider this expansion.[4] On 20 July 2026, CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez announced that the tournament would feature 64 teams in a post on X.[5][6] This has not been confirmed by FIFA. Critics claim increasing the number of qualified teams to 64 would devalue the qualification process and reduce competition quality.[7]
Host selection
FIFA launched the bidding process in 2022.[8][9] Because of the rule preventing countries belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments to host the next,[10][failed verification] members of AFC and CONCACAF could not bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup[11][12]–AFC as hosts of the World Cup in 2022 (Qatar), and CONCACAF as hosts in 2026 (United States, Canada, and Mexico).
During a friendly match between Portugal and Spain on 7 October 2020, the FPF and RFEF announced their intentions to produce a joint bid for the tournament.[13] 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.[14][15]
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation–failing to secure hosting rights in 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010 and 2026–bid for the sixth time.[16][17] On 14 March 2023, King Mohammed VI announced that Morocco would join the Portuguese–Spanish bid.[18][19]
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.[20]
Proposed venues
Prior to finalising the bid book on 31 July 2024, the Royal Spanish Football Federation announced that a proposed 11 stadiums in 9 cities would host matches."[21] 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.[22] A total of twenty-three different venues are under consideration for hosting matches during the tournament.[23]
In April 2025, some residents of San Sebastián wrote to FIFA asking to be removed as a host city amid overtourism.[24] On 12 July 2025, Málaga withdrew due to logistical reasons regarding the renovation of Estadio La Rosaleda.[25] On 15 March 2026, the mayor of A Coruña, Inés Rey, and also the president of Deportivo de A Coruña, Juan Carlos Escotet, announced they would withdraw as host city due to hosting costs despite having plans to upgrade the Estadio de Riazor.[26]
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.[27]
| 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
(new) |
 | |
| Tangier | Ibn Batouta Stadium | 75,500
(after renovation) |
 | |
 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 | Estadio de San Mamés | 53,331 |  | |
| Las Palmas | Estadio de Gran Canaria | 44,500 (after renovation) |
 | |
| Madrid | Bernabéu | 83,186 |  | |
| Estadio Metropolitano | 70,692 |  | ||
| San Sebastián | Estadio de Anoeta | 42,300 |  | |
| Seville | Estadio de La Cartuja | 70,000
(after renovation) |
 | |
| Valencia | Nou Mestalla | 70,044 (new) |
 | |
| Vigo | Estadio de Balaídos | 44,000 (after renovation) |
 | |
| Zaragoza | Estadio Nueva Romareda | 43,110 (new) |
 |
Three South American cities were also selected in the bid book to host the three centenary matches.[28]
| Country | City | Stadium | Capacity | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Argentina |
Buenos Aires | Estadio Monumental | 100,000 (after renovation)[29] |
 |
 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.[30][31][32]
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.[33]
- 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 or early 2027.[34][35][36]
Marketing
Broadcasting rights
- Australia – SBS[37]
- China – CCTV[38]
- Croatia – HRT[39]
- Czech Republic – ČT, TV Nova[39]
- Europe – EBU[40]
- France – M6[41]
- Germany – Magenta Sport[42]
- India – Zee[43]
- Ireland – RTÉ[44]
- Netherlands – NOS[45]
- New Zealand – TVNZ[46]
- Romania – Antena[47]
- Slovakia – TV JOJ
- South Korea – JTBC[48]
- Thailand – MONOMAX Sports[49]
- United Kingdom – BBC, ITV[50]
Sponsorship
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.[58]
Inclusion of centenary match hosts
With the FIFA rotation system, which prevents continental associations from hosting consecutive or near-consecutive World Cups,[10] CONCACAF (which won the rights to host the 2026 World Cup), CONMEBOL, UEFA, and CAF were all unable to bid for the 2034, leaving it open only for the AFC and OFC. This led to accusations that FIFA intentionally selected these countries, especially the centenary match hosts in the CONMEBOL region, to ensure that Saudi Arabia would win its bid for the 2034 tournament unopposed.[59][60]
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.[61][62]
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.[63][64]
Moroccan 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 bolster its claim over Western Sahara,[65][66][67] such as through sportswashing.[68] Morocco initially planned to build a stadium in Dakhla for the World Cup,[69] though ultimately no matches will take place in the territory.[70] Morocco regularly expels journalists who bring attention towards the occupation.[71] It is doubling its green energy production in the territory to meet its own demands for the World Cup.[72]
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.[70] 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".[73]
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.[74][75] 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 upcoming 2030 FIFA World Cup.[76][77][78][79]
Planned UEFA boycott
On 30 July 2026, following FIFA's announcement of FIFA Forward Enterprise (a proposal to sell stakes in FIFA's tournament operations, including for the World Cup, to private investors), all 55 UEFA member associations agreed on an indefinite boycott of FIFA competitions until the proposal was shelved and assurances were made that such a proposal would not be tabulated again. Two of the 2030 FIFA World Cup hosts – Spain and Portugal – would have been involved in the boycott.[80][81] On 31 July, FIFA scrapped the proposal,[82] although UEFA stated that, regardless, it no longer trusts FIFA's governance.[83]
Notes
- Centenary match hosts:
Argentina
Paraguay
Uruguay
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