Soccer player kicks the ball vigorously at the stadium
With the FIFA 2022 World Cup still fresh in the memory, attention, in some quarters at least, has already turned to future editions of arguably the world’s biggest sporting event. With the USA, Canada and Mexico confirmed joint hosts for the 2026 edition, the serious focus has been switched to which nations will be accepted as the hosts of the 2030 event, with some of the best betting sites in Ireland already offering odds on who that is likely to be. And there are some surprise names in the offing.
The 2030 tournament will be a particularly special edition of football’s premier international event: the centenary version of the competition no less! The first FIFA World Cup was held in Uruguay way back in 1930 – a tournament that the hosts won. The 2030 FIFA World Cup will be the 24th edition, and plenty of candidates have already thrown their hats into the ring. Indeed, at one stage it looked like Ireland was going to be a part of a joint United Kingdom and Ireland bid to host, but that has now been ruled out as instead, the counties have turned their attention to Euro 2028. For now, at least as far as Irish World Cup ambitions are confirmed, attention will turn to the team qualifying for the 2026 event in North America. If the Irish team is successful, it will be only the fourth team the men’s national team has qualified for the showpiece FIFA event, after reaching the finals in 1990, 1994, and 2022.
But if not Ireland, then who will likely host the 2020 event? Bids and rumoured bids have already come and gone, but one of the most intriguing confirmed offers comes from North Africa and a country that seriously made it’s mark on proceedings at the 2022 World Cup. In Qatar, Morocco became the first African team to reach the semi-final stage of the tournament and that fact will certainly not have harmed its football confederation’s attempt to stage the 2030 edition. Another African nation that have confirmed its interest in Egypt, this time coming as an inter-confederation bid with countries from both Europe, in the shape of Greece, and Asia, in the form of Saudi Arabia.
Elsewhere, a confirmed bid has come from Europe. What started out as an Iberian Peninsula offering has since grown to include, rather surprisingly, Ukraine. The Eastern European country has hosted a major footballing event before, of course, standing as a joint host, along with Poland, of Euro 2012. But Ukraine’s addition to the Spain/Portugal bid comes at a politically sensitive time with events between Ukraine and Russia the backdrop to this latest attempt to succeed in hosting a major sporting event. Certainly, goodwill exists for the country, and a joint Spain/Portugal/Ukraine bid will have its supporters.
The fourth and final confirmed offer, as things currently stand, is a joint South American bid, and is certainly one that appeals to those of a nostalgic persuasion. Considering the very first FIFA World Cup was held in Montevideo a century before, Uruguay’s attempt to convince the World Cup committee to send the competition back down south will have its supporters. Along with Uruguay, Argentina – hosts in 1978 – Paraguay and Chile have been confirmed as part of this joint CONMEBOL bid.
But with other countries also having expressed interest in hosting the 2030 World Cup, the runners and riders have not all been fully confirmed yet. And as for when the decision will be made, we will have to wait another couple of years. The host (or hosts) of the 2030 World Cup will be announced at the 74th FIFA Congress in 2022. The world waits in anticipation.
