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World Cup
2030 marks the centenary of the World Cup, but where will the subsequent tournament be staged?
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The 24th World Cup will commemorate a century since the competition’s inception, first held and claimed by Uruguay in 1930. Only 13 teams took part in that original tournament, and the World Cup is now a vastly different entity, so returning it to Uruguay to celebrate the milestone was not a feasible option.
World Cup 2030 shares more similarities with the 2026 edition than with 1930. It will feature 48 qualifying teams competing in 12 groups of four, requiring a round of 32 following the group phase. It will also take place – largely – across three host nations.
Four years after the first World Cup staged in three countries, 2030 will be the first held across three continents.
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Where will World Cup 2030 be played?
It is proposed that World Cup 2030 will be primarily hosted by a trio of co-hosts: Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. Twenty stadiums across 17 cities in these three nations will serve as World Cup venues – 11 in Spain, six in Morocco, and three in Portugal.
Barcelona (Camp Nou and RCDE Stadium), Madrid (Bernabeu and Metropolitano), and Lisbon (Estadio da Luz and Estadio Jose Alvalade) will each have two host stadiums in use during World Cup 2030.
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One hundred and one of the 104 matches scheduled for World Cup 2030 will occur in those 20 stadiums, but the remaining three will take place in three different South American nations, meaning 2030 will be the first six-nation World Cup.
Those three designated centenary matches are set for Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Uruguay; Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Estadio Osvaldo Dominguez Dibb in Asuncion, Paraguay.
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As a result, we already know the first six qualified teams from the eventual 48. All six co-hosts, including the three that will host just one fixture on the opposite side of the world from the other 101, have been awarded automatic qualification.
Why are there six host nations for World Cup 2030?
Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay were incorporated into the bid to celebrate the centenary of the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. Argentina, Uruguay’s close neighbours, were the losing side in the inaugural World Cup final.
CONMEBOL, the South American confederation that includes these three nations, had earlier proposed a one-off expansion to 64 teams to commemorate the first tournament.
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The three main co-hosts for World Cup 2030 were announced by FIFA in December 2024. At the same time, it was confirmed that Saudi Arabia would host the competition in 2034.
One suggestion is that taking three matches to South America in 2030 ruled CONMEBOL nations out of submitting a competitive bid for 2034.
Under FIFA regulations, hosting confederations are rotated. Nations from the previous two host confederations are not allowed to host the next World Cup. Due to the large number of hosts in 2026 and 2030, nations from CONCACAF, UEFA, CAF, and CONMEBOL are ineligible to host in 2034.
What do you think about the World Cup being hosted across six different countries in 2030? Let us know below...
Chris is a Warwickshire-based freelance football writer specialising in West Midlands football, the Premier League, the EFL, and the J.League. He is the author of the High Protein Beef Paste football newsletter and owner of Aston Villa Review. He supports Coventry Sphinx.
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