Morocco, Portugal and Spain Officially FIFA 2030 World Cup Hosts

Morocco, Portugal and Spain have officially been appointed as host countries for the 2030 FIFA World Cup by the FIFA Congress, gathered Wednesday in an extraordinary session by videoconference. During the same session, chaired by FIFA president Gianni Infantino from Zurich, Congress members also approved awarding the three centenary matches to Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, while Saudi Arabia was confirmed as the host country for the 2034 World Cup. The three bids were approved by acclamation of FIFA’s 211 member federations, who voted separately on the nomination procedure adopted by FIFA and on each of the respective bids. Speaking on the occasion, Infantino said that “in today’s divided world (…), to be able to agree on something like this is an extraordinary message”. “We live unity. We live inclusiveness. We live soccer,” he stated solemnly. For his part, President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) Fouzi Lekjaa expressed his gratitude to FIFA’s member federations for having made possible “this moment of shared happiness, a moment rich in many ways, starting with this universal representation, rarely seen or experienced in other fields”. “I would like to thank you for having placed your trust in my country, Morocco, and its two partners, Portugal and Spain, to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup together,” he said in a pre-recorded speech broadcast during the Congress. “This trust placed in my country by retaining its candidacy as part of the tripartite bid is further testimony to the progress made both in the specific preparations for the event and in the country’s overall progress, led by the enlightened vision of HM King Mohammed VI, may God assist Him,”  Lekjaa stressed. “It will not only contribute to the organization’s success,” he continued, “but also to achieve what we have always defended, namely that sport, in general, and soccer, in particular, is a lever for socio-economic and human development”. “The tripartite bid will stand out in history. This is the first time that this universal event has been organized simultaneously in Africa, the cradle of Humanity, and on the Old Continent, Europe”, the President of the FRMF concluded. Furthermore, an official from the independent auditor (BDO), commissioned by FIFA to verify the compliance of the bids for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups, concluded that both bidding procedures had been conducted with “objectivity, integrity and transparency”. Sole candidate in the running for the 2030 World Cup, the Moroccan-Iberian “Yalla Vamos 2030” bid took another decisive step forward at the end of November following the publication by FIFA of the evaluation report, which deemed that the tripartite bid stands out for its “overall quality” and exceeded the “minimum organizational requirements” set out in the technical evaluation, awarding it a score of 4.2 out of 5. The solidity of the bid is reflected in the technical evaluation, which covers both infrastructure and commercial potential, the reports details. The Morocco-Spain-Portugal 2030 bid offers 20 varied options for stadiums: six in Morocco, three in Portugal and 11 in Spain. This exceeds the minimum requirements (14 stadiums) outlined for the 2030 World Cup, offering sufficient flexibility to choose diverse and emblematic venues in the three countries, the report points out. The report further notes that Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu stadium in Madrid, Barcelona’s Camp Nou in Barcelona and Casablanca’s Grand Stade Hassan II have been submitted for the opening and final games.