CONMEBOL president confirms Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay will host opening games of 2030 FIFA World Cup
CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez has confimed that the opening few games of the 2030 FIFA World Cup will be held in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.
The host countries for the 24th edition of the quadrennial competition are yet to be officially announced by FIFA. Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay have submitted a joint bid to host the 2030 edition of the event. Spain, Portugal, and Morocco are the other joint bidders in the fray.
Dominguez's tweet suggests that the World Cup could be returning to Uruguay, the place of its inaugural edition in 1930. Meanwhile, Argentina last hosted the event in 1978, which the hosts won for their first of three titles, while Paraguay are set to become first-time hosts.
The CONMEBOL boss tweeted (as translated from Spanish):
"We believed in Big. The 2030 Centennial World Cup begins where it all began. Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will host the opening matches of #MundialCentenario
Alejandro Domínguez ‘s tweet was later shared by the Argentine football federation and the President of Uruguay, among others, as reported by BolaVIP. However, the aforementioned three countries will reportedly not host the entire event.
Who will host the 2030 FIFA World Cup?
As reported by The Athletic, Spain, Portugal and Morocco will host the 2030 FIFA World Cup, except for the first three games, which will be played in South America. This will be the first World Cup with six host countries and held across three continents.
After playing their respective opening game at home, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay will then travel to Spain, Portugal and Morocco for the remainder of the quadrennial event.
The opening ceremony of the mega event will be in Spain, Portugal or Morroco. While Spain last hosted the World Cup in 1982, the other two countries will do so for the first time.
It will mark the second time the World Cup will return to the African continent after the 2010 edition in South Africa. It's pertinent to note that after five unsuccessful bids (1994, 1998, 2006, 2010, and 2026), Morocco intially went solo for the 2030 edition before joining Spain and Portugal for an eventually successful three-way bid.
The 2026 edition of the World Cup will be hosted by the United States of America, Mexico, and Canada, with Argentina being the defending champions.