Where does the World Cup go next?
The FIFA World Cup takes place this winter (don't get me started) in Qatar (seriously don't). The 2026 edition will be jointly hosted between Canada, the USA, and Mexico in what will be the first time the foramt expands from the current 32 team format (RIP to the best format) to a 48-team tournament (less than ideal). But where does it fo after that? The bidding process has opened for the 2030 and 2034 editions, and I;m going to take a look at some of the possible, and already confirmed bids for those tournaments and beyoind. To keep this list simple, I limited it mostly to places that have never hosted before (save for 2 joint bids). This isn’t so much of a list of where I want the tournament to go, it’s more of a prediction of where I think FIFA will find the most attractive.
Iberia (Spain/Portugal)
Spain has technically hosted a World Cup already in 1982, but Portugal has never hosted the event. Both countries are joint bidding for the 2030 World Cup and look like early favourites after missing out on the 2018 edition, where they also had a joint bid. I expect Spain to get the majority of the venues, as Portugal currently has 3 stadiums up to FIFA’s standards in terms of capacity (2 in Lisbon, 1 in Porto), however venues in Braga and Algarve could sneak in as they can very easily be expanded to meet FIFA’s minimum 40,000 capacity requirements. I expect Spain to have 9-10 stadiums, and Portugal to have 4-5. Both countries have a rich history in soccer and would make perfect co-hosts.
Morocco
Morocco has bid for the World Cup more than any other country and has never won hosting rights. They are expected to bid again for the 2030 World Cup, although they face stiff competition from Spain/Portugal. Morocco does have a history hosting soccer events, having hosted AFCON on multiple occasions, and 2 FIFA Club World Cups in 2013 and 2014. I feel like they will eventually get to host the tournament at some point, but they may have to wait awhile longer just because I see stronger bids from other countries coming forward. But I feel like you can only swing and miss so many times before finally getting a hit. One day it will probably be Morocco’s time.
United Kingdom/Ireland
This one is a weirder pick, but it has legs. England could feasibly host the tournament themselves, but in recent years there have been rumblings of the English FA conducting a joint bid with the other 3 countries in the United Kingdom (Wales, Scotland, Norther Ireland) and the Republic of Ireland. It would make for a great setting as England is the birthplace of the sport and has hosted only once in 1966. The good news is there are plenty of stadiums across the 5 nations that are either ready to host or would need minimal upgrades and expansions to host. How a venue split would work is a different story, but I imagine Scotland and Wales would have 2-3 venues each, while Northern Ireland and the Republic would have 1-2 each. I expect England would have around 8-10 venues. That gives you a range of 14-20 venues to host the tournament.
Australia
I feel like this one could be a slam dunk. Australia has the infrastructure, the stadiums, the climate, and is a growing soccer nation. They previously bid for the 2022 World Cup and lost out to Qatar and are set the 2023 Women’s World Cup alongside New Zealand. They submitted 12 stadiums in their 2022 bid book, and actually left off 4 others that meet FIFA requirements, so they have the facilities. The men’s and women’s teams have consistently qualified for the World Cup for an number of years. And the A-League, their main premier league, has been steadily growing in popularity and quality as well. I feel like the only thing holding this one back is time change and how long it would take for most countries to fly in and out of Australia.
China
Like it or not, this one is going to happen. China already have around double the stadiums needed to host the tournament. They have already hosted both the summer and winter Olympics, and it’s been expected that they will bid for the tournament relatively soon. China isn’t exactly seen as a soccer powerhouse, but neither is Qatar and they have hosting rights this year. Hosting the World Cup is one of Xi Jin Ping’s goals. He normally gets what he wants. Winning a World Cup would be a different matter entirely, but China already has an impressive infrastructure, economic clout and manpower to build basically anything required for hosting a World Cup event.
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