Spain and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) are looking to decide on their host cities and stadiums for the 2030 World Cup in the coming months. They hope to be able to present their venues to FIFA by the second quarter of 2024.
Madrid and Barcelona are two of the 10-11 host venues Spain will use for the World Cup, with the Metropolitano, Santiago Bernabeu and Camp Nou all to host matches – the RCDE Stadium also stands a solid chance of being selected.
According to Relevo, Valencia will be the third city the RFEF will include. They expect to confirm this to the club and the Valencia Council in the coming weeks, at which point they will be given a period of time to reach an agreement on the building of the new Mestalla. Work has been halted on the ground for some time, as owner Peter Lim refuses to put money into project.
The Council and Valencia must reach a funding agreement for further planning permissions by the end of the year or beginning of 2024 in order to confirm their place as a host city. If they cannot do so, then another candidate will be considered.
The Nuevo Mestalla was expected to house 70,000 fans, but the new agreement could reduce that to 66,000, with the option to renovate it. Valencia fan group Libertad VCF (Freedom VCF) are lobbying the Council not to grant any further planning permission unless Lim puts up a bank guarantee or agrees to fund the work himself, while it is believed that Lim may try to strike a deal for the Council to fit some of the bill. Valencia are expected to have a budget of at least €115-120m plus whatever they make from the sales of old Mestalla land, without further investment from Lim.
While it would seem obvious that this is interest of all to get a deal done, there is now tangible deadline for work and agreements to be pushed through. Work started on the new stadium in 2007, but has been more or less at a standstill since 2009.
Seville is also expected to host matches at La Cartuja, the RFEF’s preferred venue in recent years, while one of Donostia-San Sebastian or Bilbao in the Basque Country are also likely to be host cities.
