FIFA World Cup Taking Place on More Than One Continent for First Time in Competition’s History

FIFA sets the stage for the men’s football 2030 World Cup, granting six countries the right to host the competition and selects Saudi Arabia as the 2034 World Cup organizer.

Photo: Gianni Infantino announces 2030 FIFA World Cup hosts (screenshot youtube.com/@diarioas)

FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association or International Federation of Association Football), the governing body of international football, has confirmed that the 2030 World Cup for men will take place in six countries across three continents: Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. This confirmation comes after this week’s FIFA Congress. Also, the formal announcement has been made that Saudi Arabia will host the men’s World Cup in 2034.

Each of the two proposals was finalized in October 2023, and each candidacy hasn’t met with opposition. They were approved following a vote by FIFA’s member associations, who met virtually with the organization’s president, Gianni Infantino, at its Zürich, Switzerland, headquarters.

How Will World Cup in 2030 Play Out?

The 2030 World Cup will take place on several continents for the first time in its history.

To honor the city that hosted the inaugural World Cup in 1930, Montevideo, Uruguay, will host the opening game. Argentina and Paraguay will host the second and third games, respectively. Speaking of this WC from 94 years ago, which Uruguay hosted, they beat Argentina in the final. The headquarters of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL: Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol or Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) are located in Paraguay. At the time of the competition in 1930, CONMEBOL was the only confederation in existence. Spain, Portugal, and Morocco will host the remaining games.

Out of these six nations, Portugal, Paraguay, and Morocco will host the tournament for the first time. Morocco will be the first country in North Africa to host the World Cup. The first tournament matches since 1982 will be held in Spain.

The World Cup will begin in Montevideo, Asunción, and Buenos Aires, the capitals of Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina, respectively. Matches will also be held in nine Spanish towns (A Coruña, Barcelona, Bilbao, Las Palmas, Madrid, Málaga, San Sebastián, Sevilla, Zaragoza), two Portuguese cities (Lisboa, Porto), and six Moroccan cities (Agadir, Casablanca, Fes, Marrakech, Rabat, Tangier).

Why is Saudi Arabia Hosting 2034 Tournament?

After Australia declined to bid, FIFA declared in October 2023 that Saudi Arabia was the only contender to host the 2034 competition. Earlier that month, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) announced its interest in hosting the 2034 competition.

Because of where the 2026 and 2030 World Cups will be held, it was certain that the 2034 World Cup would be held in either the Oceania Football Confederation’s (OFC) territory or the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC), of which Saudi Arabia and Australia are all members. Recall that the United States, Canada, and Mexico will host the 2026 World Cup.

These four continents were excluded according to FIFA’s confederation rotation principle, which also meant a return to Asia, where Qatar hosted the 2022 World Cup—won by the second-biggest outright betting favorite by online FIFA bookmakers before the tournament, Argentina—in the event that Oceania didn’t submit a bid. Prior to the October deadline for declarations, Australia had explored the opportunity of placing a bid for the event but had made it clear that it wouldn’t be doing so.