World Cup 2030: The race for the final (and more) enters decisive phase

28.06.2024 19:23 source: StadiumDB.com; author: Miguel Ciołczyk Garcia

Mundial 2030

Recent weeks have been tumultuous for the candidate cities, but the next few weeks will be a real storm. Of the 14 Spanish arenas aspiring to host the World Cup, only 11 will be chosen. Bernabéu, Camp Nou and Grand Stade de Casablanca are vying to host the finals, although the Moroccan megastadion exists only on paper for now.

Three records

Whatever happens during the 2030 World Cup, the tournament will still go down in history. For it will be organized by as many as 6 countries, the main organizers - Spain, Portugal and Morocco - and, in commemoration of the centenary of the 1930 World Cup, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, which will host each one of the first three matches.

But that's not the end of the records. The tournament will be played on 3 continents - Europe, Africa and South America. The number of stadiums where 48 national teams will compete for the title of world champions will also be a record. As reported by Mundo Deportivo, there will be 11 venues from Spain, six from Morocco, three from Portugal and Estadio Centenario (Uruguay) Mâs Monumental (Argentina) and Estadio CONMEBOL (Paraguay). A total of 23 tournament arenas!

Some media report that Spain will get only 9 or 10 stadiums, but even in that case a record would be set. In recent hours, however, AS informed that the Spanish federation wants to increase that number to 12 facilities. So far, the most stadiums - 20 - were used at the World Cup 2002 in South Korea and Japan.

You can learn about all the stadiums that aspire to host the 2030 World Cup in a video on our channel:

Spain's dilemma

Although El Molinón recently dropped out of the race to host the World Cup due to a disagreement between the club and the city, there is still overbooking on the Iberian Peninsula. There are still 14 candidates, but only 11 of them will be elected. However, almost everyone agrees on the group of the venues that are must-haves for the World Cup There are 7 of them:

Santiago Bernabéu (Madrid)
Spotify Camp Nou (Barcelona)
Cívitas Metropolitano (Madrid)
La Cartuja (Seville)
San Mamés (Bilbao)
Stage Front Stadium (Barcelona)
Reale Arena (San Sebastián)

Another seven stadiums are vying for the four remaining free places. Their situation is dynamic and the competition is fierce. The final list of venues must be submitted to FIFA by July 31, but an unofficial decision on the selection of the remaining arenas is expected to be made today, on June 28 at a meeting of 3 federations - Spanish (RFEF), Portuguese (FPF) and Moroccan (FRMF) - in Agadir (Morocco).

Nou Mestalla (Valencia)

The Mediterranean candidacy was, until now, only saved by the image disaster that the omission of Spain's third-largest city would be. The organizers' patience seemed to be paying off, however, as the club has finally moved beyond the realm of declarations on the completion of Nou Mestalla.

We were to learn of another political proposal to untie the stadium's Gordian knot in June or July. In recent hours, however, media reports from leading titles indicate a sensation. The RFEF is most likely not going to wait any longer and thus Valencia will not host the World Cup in six years, but according to Marca the city is desperately trying to modify its proposal to avoid the catastrophe of being omitted.

Estadio Abanca-Riazor (La Coruña)

Most likely only one of the Galician stadiums - Abanca-Riazor or Balaidos - will be able to host the World Cup, and it is Deportivo’s stadium that seems to be in a better position. As reported by La Voz de Galicia, the planned modernization will ultimately cost €101 m, and a plan for joint financing by the city, province, Galicia and a private investor is already in place.

Estadio Abanca Balaidos (Vigo)

On the occasion of the signing of the contract for the redevelopment of Abanca Balaídos both the mayor of Vigo and the president of the Provincial Council declared faith in the city's ability to become a World Cup host. The problem, however, is the capacity, because even after the reconstruction of the Gol Stand the stadium would have 27,000 seats, 13,000 less than the absolute minimum. The latest AS’ reports indicate that the last chance for Vigo is the proposed increase in the number of arenas to 12.

Estadio Gran Canaria (Las Palmas)

The only stadium-candidate located in the islands seemed to have a poor chance until a €100 m upgrade was announced in June. After the planned 2025-27 reconstruction of the Las Palmas’ stadium capacity will increase from 32,500 to 45,000 seats, and the venue will get a new roof, significantly boosting its chances in the World Cup race.

Estadio La Romareda (Zaragoza)

Real Zaragoza's facility is another example of a candidate that has become an almost certain spot on the World Cup map thanks to the announcement of the reform. The modernisation project involves increasing its capacity to 42,500 seats. The cooperation between the club and politicians has resulted in the aging La Romareda getting a new face, with the city likely to host the World Cup.

Design of Nueva Romareda © IDOM | Nueva Romareda

Estadio La Rosaleda (Málaga)

Despite being the first to submit documentation to the Spanish federation (RFEF), La Rosaleda cannot yet be taken for granted as World Cup’s host. There is cautious optimism in Malaga, but also awareness of the need for modernization and increased capacity. The project to redevelop Malaga CF's facility calls for increasing capacity to 45,000 seats at a cost of about €110 million.

Estadio Nueva Condomina (Murcia)

Nueva Condomina is, according to many sources, the weakest candidate to host the 2030 World Cup. The lack of a plan to upgrade the venue with insufficient capacity (33,000 seats) means that only a last-minute turnaround could restore Murcia's hopes of hosting the World Cup.

Portugal's sure bets

With a World Cup storm brewing in its neighbor, Portugal is a calm gulf, as only three stadiums there exceed the capacity of 40,000 seats, which is the bare minimum for hosting World Cup matches. We are talking about:

Lisbon's stadium of light will be the arena for the semifinal clash. Indeed, the head of the Portuguese federation, Fernando Gomes, announced that Portugal will have a semifinal together with the country that will not host the final. Since it is the only one that exceeds the 60,000-seat capacity to host the ½ final, the Benfica Lisbon venue has dibs on the venue.

The Moroccan six

Morocco can count on six stadiums in the upcoming championship. These are:

In addition to the four existing arenas, two are under construction. The first is being built on the site of the now-demolished Stade Moulay Abdella in Rabat. The second is the Grand Stade de Casablanca set to be built on the outskirts of Morocco's largest city.

The fight for the final

Although the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, an architectural masterpiece, has the best chance of hosting the final, Barcelona recently assured that it is not giving up the fight to host the final clash. The Grand Stade de Casablanca is also just in play, but its candidacy is hampered by the lack of a published project.

The chance to host the final could be taken away from Spain by the Rubiales affair, which has been dragging on for several months, as well as the suspicion of the current RFEF president of irregularities in connection with the transfer of the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia. The Spanish federation's image crisis could deprive it of hosting the finals, but there was already speculation that it would take away the organization of the World Cup itself, which has not been confirmed.

Spain has until July 31 to submit the stadiums selected to host the World Cup to FIFA. Then the federation will have time to analyze the documentation and make any adjustments, and in December, as reported by Mundo Deportivo, it will announce the list of venues that will host the 2030 World Cup. That's also when we'll find out which one will host the final.