World Cup 2030: Rabat-Lisbon-Madrid, the Africa-Europe junction

2023-05-14 17:31:00

EVENT. Morocco and Portugal welcomed, during their high-level meeting held in Lisbon, their joint candidacy, with Spain, for the 2030 World Cup.

Par Africa Point

On both sides of the Mediterranean and beyond, expectations are high as to the symbolism behind a possible World Cup jointly organized in 2030 by Morocco, Portugal and Spain. Here, the audience of the Morocco-Brazil friendly match played at the Ibn Batouta stadium in Tangier in March 2023 and won by the Atlas Lions 2 goals to 1.
© FADEL SENNA / AFP

Published on 05/14/2023 at 5:31 p.m.

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Lorocco is not at its first attempt to organize the Football World Cup and continues to rekindle its desire to go through with its quest. For the centenary in 2030 of a competition for which the first edition was organized and won by Uruguay, which formalized its joint candidacy with Argentina, Paraguay and Chile last February, the Cherifian kingdom is even on his sixth attempt. It has indeed joined with Portugal and Spain to push for a joint candidacy.

Semi-finalist of the last edition won by Argentina led by Leo Messi, Morocco is the first African and Arab country to reach this level in the World Cup. Also in the running to organize the 2025 African Cup of Nations after the edition scheduled for Côte d’Ivoire in early January 2024, Morocco had formalized its desire to be part of it in 2030 with a statement from King Mohammed VI. read on March 14 in Kigali, Rwanda, by the Moroccan Minister of Sports, Chakib Benmoussa, on the occasion of the presentation to the Atlas Lions of the 2022 Prize for Excellence from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) .

An application for rapprochement between Africa and Europe

Last Friday, during the high-level meeting held in Lisbon, Morocco and Portugal welcomed their joint bid, with Spain, to host the FIFA World Cup in 2030. This, a- it was noted in the Portuguese capital, “will bring Africa and Europe closer” and “constitutes a precedent in the history of football, uniting for the first time countries from two continents” and allowing “a cultural rapprochement and humanist,” as Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch said. “This common candidacy will be that of the junction between Africa and Europe, between the north and the south of the Mediterranean and between the African, Arab and Euro-Mediterranean worlds”, the two countries further underlined in a joint statement. .

As a reminder, the process for designating the host country was officially launched in 2022 by the International Football Federation (Fifa). This will choose the organizing country during its 74^e congress next year. As for the 2026 World Cup, it will be contested with 48 teams, instead of the 32 in Qatar, and will be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.