Spain have been awarded the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Morocco to join as hosts in the first tournament to be held across three continents. Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina will host their first games on home soil to mark the 100th anniversary of the first tournament, held in Uruguay in 1930.
The preparations will begin in earnest now, with Spain and Morocco still in the process of selecting their stadiums. Not including the Latin American countries, there will be a minimum of 11 but likely 14 or 15 cities hosting the tournament.
Portugal will have three stadiums hosting in Lisbon and Porto, with the Estadio do Dragao (Porto), Estadio da Luz (Benfica) and Estadio Jose Alvalade (Sporting CP).
Ahead of Morocco entering the candidacy, it was thought that Spain would have 11 stadiums, but it is now unclear how many Morocco will host. There are six cities being considered, as per Diario AS: Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier, Agadir, Marrakesh and Fez.
Meanwhile Spain have 15 stadiums in contention, spread across 13 cities. Each stadium must have a minimum of 40,000 seats, while those wanting to host semi-finals must have over 60,000 and the final will be held in a stadium of over 80,000 fans – that would mean one of Camp Nou or the Santiago Bernabeu would be Spain’s only current candidates. Seven of the stadiums selected across the tournament will have to be built between now and the World Cup, although renovations may count towards that quota.
The current stadiums up for selection in Spain are Balaidos (Celta Vigo), El Molinon (Sporting Gijon), Riazor (Deportivo La Coruna), San Mames (Athletic Club), Reale Arena (Real Sociedad), La Romareda (Real Zaragoza), Camp Nou (Barcelona, not yet built), RCDE Stadium (Espanyol), Santiago Bernabeu (Real Madrid), Metropolitano (Atletico Madrid), Nuevo Mestalla (Valencia, not yet built), Nueva Condomina (Real Murcia), La Cartuja (Seville, no team), La Rosaleda (Malaga) and Gran Canaria (Las Palmas).
As things stand, San Mames, Reale Arena, Metropolitano, RCDE Stadium and La Cartuja are the only stadiums that would qualify without further work, although Camp Nou is highly likely to be included once renovations are finished. Marca say that Barcelona’s two stadiums, Madrid’s two stadiums and La Cartuja are the only certain venues of the 15 being considered, while the Bernabeu will host the final.
