2030 FIFA World Cup
Copa Mundial de la FIFA 2030
كأس العالم لكرة القدم 2030
Campeonato do Mundo da FIFA de 2030
ⴰⴽⵔⵡⴰⵙ ⵏ ⵓⵎⴰⴹⴰⵍ 2030
Tournament details
Host countries Morocco
Portugal
Spain
  • Centenary match hosts:
  • Argentina
  • Paraguay
  • Uruguay
Dates 8 June – 21 July[2]
Teams TBA[1] (from 6 confederations)
Venue TBA (including centenary match hosts) (in TBA host cities)
← 2026
2034 →

The 2030 FIFA World Cup will 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 will be jointly hosted by Morocco, Portugal, and Spain; it would be the first across the Mediterranean Sea. In honour of the 100th anniversary of the first FIFA World Cup in 1930, a special match and centennial celebration will 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.

This will be the first World Cup in Africa since 2010; first ever in North Africa; in South America since 2014, and in Europe since 2018. By country this will be the first held in Morocco, Portugal, and Paraguay, 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. There has been strong criticism from fans and some football executives. They 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

Further information: 2030 FIFA World Cup bids, Morocco–Portugal–Spain 2030 FIFA World Cup bid, Uruguay–Argentina–Chile–Paraguay 2030 FIFA World Cup bid, and Bulgaria–Greece–Romania–Serbia UEFA Euro 2028 and 2030 FIFA World Cup bid

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

Map
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Maps: terms of use
460km
286miles
Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Vigo
Vigo
Vigo
Valencia
Valencia
Valencia
Seville
Seville
Seville
San Sebastián
San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Madrid
Madrid
Madrid
Las Palmas
Las Palmas
Las Palmas
Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao
Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona
Porto
Porto
Porto
Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon
Tangier
Tangier
Tangier
Rabat
Rabat
Rabat
Marrakesh
Marrakesh
Marrakesh
Fez
Fez
Fez
Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca
Agadir
Agadir
Agadir
Morocco
Portugal
Spain
   
Location of the candidate cities to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

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 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 the Royal Spanish Football Federation had submitted bids for Nou Mestalla in Valencia, and Estadio de Balaídos in Vigo. Previous bids for these stadiums were turned down by FIFA for exceeding the limit of twenty stadiums per tournament, to replace Málaga and A Coruña's stadiums.[23]

List of candidate cities and stadiums
Country City Stadium Capacity Image
Morocco Agadir Grand Stade d'Agadir 46,000
(after renovation)
Casablanca Grand Stade Hassan II 115,000
(new)
Fez Stade de Fès 55,800
(after renovation)
Marrakesh Grand Stade de Marrakech 45,860
(after renovation)
Rabat Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah 69,500
Tangier Grand Stade de Tanger 75,500
Portugal Lisbon Estádio da Luz 70,000 – 80,000
(after renovation)[24]
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
Valencia Nou Mestalla 70,044
(new)
Vigo Estadio de Balaídos 44,000
(after renovation)
Zaragoza Estadio Nueva Romareda 43,110
(new)
Map
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1000km
621miles
Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo
Asunción
Asunción
Asunción
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
   
Location of the host cities of the 2030 FIFA World Cup Centenary matches.

Three South American cities were also selected in the bid book to host the three centenary matches.[25]

List of host cities and stadiums
Country City Stadium Capacity Image
Argentina Buenos Aires Estadio Monumental 100,000
(after renovation)[26]
Paraguay Asunción Estadio Osvaldo Domínguez Dibb 46,000
(new)
Uruguay Montevideo Estadio Centenario 62,782
(after renovation)

Teams

Qualification

  Teams qualified
  Teams still able to qualify
  Not a FIFA member

All six host nations qualified for the World Cup.[27][28][29]

CAF
  •  Morocco (co-host)
CONMEBOL
  •  Argentina (centenary match co-host)
  •  Paraguay (centenary match co-host)
  •  Uruguay (centenary match co-host)
UEFA
  •  Portugal (co-host)
  •  Spain (co-host)

CONCACAF

On 6 February 2026, CONCACAF announced their qualifying format for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.[30]

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 countries will no longer play minor nations 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.[31][32][33]

Marketing

Broadcasting rights

  • China – CCTV[34]
  • Croatia – HRT[35]
  • Czech Republic – ČT, TV Nova[35]
  • Europe – EBU[36]
  • France – M6[37]
  • Hungary – MTVA[35]
  • India – Zee[38]
  • Netherlands – NOS[39]
  • Romania – Antena[40]
  • Slovakia – TV JOJ
  • South Korea – JTBC[41]
  • United Kingdom – BBC, ITV[42]

Sponsorship

FIFA partners FIFA World Cup sponsors

Controversies

Manipulation of Spanish venues

On 23 March 2025, news broke that the Royal Spanish Football Federation manipulated the scores when choosing the venues in order to exclude Balaídos Stadium and include Anoeta Stadium.[49]

Inclusion of centenary match hosts

With the FIFA rotation system,[50] 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, an AFC member with major human rights controversies, would win its bid unopposed.[51][52]

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.[53][54]

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.[55][56]

2025 Gen Z protests

Main article: 2025 Moroccan 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.[57][58] 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.[59][60][61][62]

Notes

  1. ^ The FIFA extraordinary congress was held online.

References

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