2023-10-04 18:34:00
The European, African and South American football confederations have agreed on a single candidacy for the 2030 World Cup, presented by Morocco, Spain and Portugal and with three matches in South America, Fifa announced this Wednesday 4 October 2023. For the centenary of its first edition in Uruguay, the men’s World Cup “will unite three continents and six countries”, promises the football body, which must still validate the technical criteria and will not officially award the competition until the end 2024.
But, with the “unanimous” approval of this unique file by the Fifa council, the road seems clear for this unprecedented intercontinental formula, promising a complex political and logistical setup and numerous questions around the environmental impact of major events. sportsmen.
“A message of solidarity and hope”
Wednesday’s announcement puts an end to the announced rivalry between two favorites, a joint candidacy from Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay and a European ticket long led by Spain and Portugal. A year ago, with the support of UEFA, the two countries included Ukraine in their dossier, ensuring they wanted to launch “a message of solidarity and hope” and pay tribute to “the tenacity and resilience » of a country occupied by the Russian army since February 2022.
But this highly political team has not been clarified since and Morocco, five times unsuccessful candidate to host the tournament, entered the dance in mid-March, without it being specified what would happen to Ukraine.
Celebrating 100 years of the first World Cup
The agreement between UEFA and its African (CAF) and South American (Conmebol) counterparts ratifies both the withdrawal of Ukraine and that of the initial Argentina-Chile-Uruguay-Paraguay project, in exchange for a concession major symbolism.
According to Fifa, a “centenary ceremony” will in fact be held “at the stadium where it all began”, in Montevideo, at the time when the event brought together 13 teams in the same host city – compared to 32 during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and 48 from the 2026 edition in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
In addition, Montevideo, Asunción and Buenos Aires will each host a World Cup meeting, even if the majority of the event will take place between the three organizing countries.
Saudi Arabia candidate for the 2034 World Cup
Saudi Arabia, which has the ambition to become a stronghold of international football, announced on Wednesday its candidacy to organize the 2034 World Cup. With this candidacy, the oil monarchy “plans to offer a world-class tournament and will be inspired by Saudi Arabia’s ongoing social and economic transformation, and the passion for football deeply rooted in the country,” the Saudi Football Federation said in a statement.
This announcement, which was expected, comes a year after the World Cup among neighbors Qatar, who attracted the attention of the whole world by organizing the first World Cup in history in the Middle East.
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