Morocco and Spain Vie for 2030 World Cup Final Hosting Rights

Already signs of friction between Morocco and Spain? Each country is eyeing the organization of the 2030 World Cup final. On the Onda Cero radio station, Miquel Iceta, the Spanish Minister of Sports, declared that even if "we cannot count our chickens before they hatch", he expects the final to take place in Spain. For its part, Morocco expresses the same wish. "We hope to experience an extraordinary final that honors the entire continent and the younger generations in a stadium in Casablanca that will be extraordinary and wonderful," said Faouzi Lekjaa, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), on Radio Mars.

He also indicated that Morocco, Spain and Portugal will meet on October 18 in Rabat to discuss the schedule of the World Cup matches. Argentina, which will host the three opening matches of the centenary edition alongside two other Latin American countries (Uruguay and Paraguay), is developing its appetite. It wants more matches. "Of course we are going to fight for more matches organized on our soil: this is our idea," said Matias Lammens, Argentine Minister of Tourism and Sports.

On Wednesday, FIFA announced that the 2030 World Cup will take place for the first time on three continents: Africa, Europe and South America. One hundred and four matches will take place between Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Three of them will take place in Argentina (Buenos Aires), Uruguay (Montevideo) and Paraguay (Asuncion).

"This decision of the Executive Committee of the International Football Federation salutes and recognizes Morocco’s place of choice in the concert of great nations," welcomed King Mohammed VI, whose country - a semi-finalist in the 2022 World Cup - is on the verge of becoming the second African country to host the competition after South Africa in 2010. "I am convinced that with Morocco and Portugal, we will organize the best World Cup in history," said for his part the interim president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Pedro Rocha, quoted in a joint statement from the three federations.