5 October 2023: Morocco has won the right to co-host the 2030 Fifa World Cup, and Saudi Arabia has announced its intention to bid for the 2034 hosting rights. Saudi Arabia made the announcement on Wednesday through its state news agency, SPA.
The 2030 tournament will be hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco, according to an announcement by football’s world governing body, Fifa, on Wednesday.
The 2030 edition will mark the centenary of the tournament, as the first World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930. The three opening matches will be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, making it the first World Cup to be held across six countries on three continents.
“In a divided world, Fifa and football are uniting,” said Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino.
The joint bid from Morocco, Spain and Portugal was the sole bid for 2030 and has thus been awarded the rights.
The last World Cup to be held in Asia – and the first in the Middle East – was hosted by Qatar in 2022.
The tournament in Qatar was universally hailed as a success, with some, including the Fifa president, going so far as calling it “the best World Cup ever”.
Saudi Arabia has long been a stalwart for football in the Middle East, with its team qualifying for six World Cups and winning two Asian Cups.
