The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), announced a unique set-up for the World Cup 2030 which is set to be played on three different continents.
Morocco, Portugal and Spain have been chosen as the sole candidate to host the World Cup. However in order to celebrate one of the biggest tournament’s 100th anniversary, centenary celebration and celebratory games will take place in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
The first of these three matches which will be played in South America will be played at the stadium where it all began, in Montevideo’s Estadio Centenario.
With this, all six nations – Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay have directly qualified for the tournament.
“The FIFA Council unanimously agreed that the sole candidacy will be the combined bid of Morocco, Portugal, and Spain, which will host the event in 2030 and qualify automatically from the existing slot allocation subject to the completion of a successful bidding process conducted by FIFA and a decision by the FIFA Congress in 2024,” as quoted from a statement by FIFA.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino talked about how football will be uniting different pasts of the world and said as quoted from the official website of FIFA, “In a divided world, FIFA and football are uniting. The FIFA Council, representing the entire world of football, unanimously agreed to celebrate the centenary of the FIFA World Cup, whose first edition was played in Uruguay in 1930, in the most appropriate way. As a result, a celebration will take place in South America and three South American countries – Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay – will organise one match each of the FIFA World Cup 2030. The first of these three matches will of course be played at the stadium where it all began, in Montevideo’s mythical Estadio Centenario, precisely to celebrate the centenary edition of the FIFA World Cup.”
“In 2030, we will have a unique global footprint, three continents — Africa, Europe and South America — six countries — Argentina, Morocco, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain and Uruguay — welcoming and uniting the world while celebrating together the beautiful game, the centenary and the FIFA World Cup,” Infantino added.
(with inputs from ANI)
