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The next World Cup will be staged across three continents by the Spain-Portugal-Morocco trio, after a kick-off in Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina. But we still don’t know the number of teams or the final’s venue.
After betting on three countries (the United States, Canada and Mexico) to host the 2026 World Cup, FIFA doubled down with six nations designated to stage the 2030 edition. On December 11, 2024, there was little suspense when the Spain-Portugal ticket, joined by Morocco in a joint bid, won the day.
Backed by Gianni Infantino, this Europe-Africa association allowed the Moroccan federation — a multiple-time unsuccessful candidate — to finally be rewarded. As was its president, Fouzi Lekjaa, a close ally of the world football boss, who had spared no effort to support the controversial project — ultimately dropped — of a World Cup every two years.
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In the wake of that, FIFA pulled three group-stage matches (in Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina) out of its hat to secure the withdrawal of the rival South American bid. A sleight of hand that allowed the very shrewd Infantino to offer compensation to his South American electorate — and above all to pave the way for Saudi Arabia to be awarded the 2034 edition.
A battle between Madrid and Casablanca for the final
In the end, the 2030 World Cup is shaping up to be something of a wild ride, with six countries and three continents involved. After three matches in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, scheduled for June 8 and 9, 2030, in the cool of the austral winter, the six teams involved and their supporters will cross the Atlantic for (in principle) the other 101 matches, from June 13 to July 21. For most fixtures, the split between Spain, which is offering six stadiums, Portugal (3) and Morocco (6) is still unknown.
Meanwhile, the battle is raging to host the final. It is between Spain and Morocco. On the Spanish side, federation president Rafael Louzan Abal — and above all Florentino Perez, Real Madrid’s boss — are lobbying intensely for the Santiago Bernabeu, which has a capacity of 83,000 (the Camp Nou seems to be falling behind in this highly political fight). But the Moroccans are campaigning hard, with the backing of the royal family, for the future Grand Stade Hassan II near Casablanca, which is slated to hold around 115,000.
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The idea of a 64-team World Cup put back on the table by FIFA
It now remains to be seen whether the 48-team format, inaugurated in 2026, is already outdated. A fan of gigantism in every domain, FIFA is not pushing back against the idea of a new XXL format with 64 nations at the start — for ever more business and ever more countries (who are also voters in the election of the International Federation’s president) involved.
As early as the end of the 2026 edition, Alejandro Dominguez, the president of Conmebol — the South American confederation — renewed his push for an expansion to 64 participating countries in 2030. This would notably allow South Americans to have more matches on their continent in four years’ time. In April 2025, Conmebol had submitted such a request to FIFA. For now, the matter has not been settled — which is not necessarily a good sign.
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