• Spain will organize the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Morocco

And, suddenly, a World Cup. The designation of Spain, Portugal and Morocco as hosts of the 2030 World Cup by FIFA arrived on Wednesday without previously finishing the previous process, which should indicate the aspiring sub-venues. Where will the matches be played? It is not yet known. The only official thing is that the inauguration will be at the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo and that there will be two more first phase matches in Argentina and Paraguay. Then, according to official Moroccan media, the final will be at the Santiago Bernabéu, the match for third and fourth place will be at the Camp Nou and the semifinals will be played at the Grand Stadium of Casablanca. The rest is anyone's guess.

A year ago, Spain and Portugal were close to an agreement, but Morocco's entry into the candidacy last March changed everything. For the cities that want to host there is good news and bad news. The good news is that in the 2030 World Cup, with the expansion to 48 participating teams, there will be more matches, many more matches, until reaching 104. The bad news is that FIFA only allows up to 16 sub-venues, although that maxim – like all in the body – is changeable.

If that cap is maintained, the division would leave Spain between six or seven cities to choose from. Portugal will have three World Cup stadiums (Do Dragao, Da Luz and José Alvalade), Morocco, six more (Casablanca, Rabat, Tangier, Marrakech, Agadir and Fez) and Spain would keep the rest up to the maximum of 16. In principle, in addition to group stage matches, the country will host two quarter-final matches, four eighth-final matches and eight sixteen-final matches. Where?

In July 2022, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) presented a list of 15 candidate cities that must now be resolved. With Santiago Bernabéu and Camp Nou as fixtures, three other venues are supposed to be ahead of the rest, Metropolitano, San Mamés and La Cartuja and there is a long list that will fight for a handful of matches: Balaídos, Riazor, El Molinón, Anoeta, Nou Mestalla, La Romareda, RCDE Stadium, Nueva Condomina, La Rosaleda and the Gran Canaria Stadium.

In some of those stadiums, reforms and even comprehensive renovations have been promised, but their options are minimal. According to the newspaper Marca, there are some, such as Balaídos, Riazor, Nou Mestalla, La Romareda or the Gran Canaria Stadium, which have already been ruled out by the organization, although there is nothing official. At the moment, there are 15 Spanish cities that opt for the privilege of being part of the 2030 World Cup.


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