Morocco will become the second African country to host a FIFA football world cup after South Africa in 2010.
The footabll’s world governing body announced on Wednesday (Oct. 04) that the north African kingdom together with Portugal and Spain will be joint hosts for the 2030 World Cup.
This comes one week after Morocco was awarded the hosting of the 2025 AFCON .
Morrocans in the streets of Rabat welcomed the news.
“As a Moroccan, I’m very happy and proud to host the 2030 World Cup with the help of Portugal and Spain,” football fan Janate said.
“It will be a great event and I hope that we will feel the same happiness we did back then in 2022 world cup.”
“I’m very happy that Morocco will be taking part in such a big event as the World Cup, working with big countries like Portugal and Spain of course, so we’re very happy,” another fan named Khaoula said.
“We hope it will go well, with God’s grace. May Morocco win !”
48-team tournament
Even though the bulk of games will be played in the three host countries, fixtures will also be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay as the footballing showpiece celebrates its centenary.
48 teams will be featured starting from the 2026 World Cup in North America.
The FIFA Council’s acceptance of a unified 2030 candidacy still needs formal approval next year at a meeting of the 211 member federations. That should be just a formality. The 2034 pick will be made at a separate congress, FIFA said.
The 48-team tournament scheduled for June-July 2030 is set to start in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay — which FIFA branded as “Centenary Celebration Matches” — before the action moves to the core host nations Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
The 2030 decision marks a victory for Morocco, which has invested heavily in infrastructure in its largest cities and was last week chosen to host the 2025 African Cup of Nations. The men’s national team helped push its case by reaching the World Cup semifinals in Qatar, eliminating Spain and Portugal in the previous rounds.
In a statement on Wednesday, Moroccan King Mohammed VI’s Royal Cabinet said the selection “recognized Morocco’s choice place in the ranks of great nations.”
Source: africanews.com
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