2030 World Cup First to Span Multiple Continents

FIFA is taking unprecedented steps to celebrate 100 years of the World Cup.

On Wednesday, the international soccer federation announced that the joint bid of Morocco, Portugal, and Spain is the only candidate to host the 2030 World Cup, marking the first time a World Cup will be played across multiple continents.

But FIFA doesn’t stop there: FIFA also declared that it would play the first three matches of the tournament in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay to honor the very first World Cup, which occurred in Uruguay in 1930. Montevideo’s Estádio Centenário, where the inaugural World Cup Final took place, will host the opening match of the 2030 World Cup.

This brings the total number of host countries to six, spanning three continents — double and triple, respectively, the previous record for a single World Cup.

The upcoming 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States will be the first time three countries have shared hosting duties. Japan and South Korea hosted the first-ever multinational World Cup in 2002.

“In 2030, we will have a unique global footprint, three continents – Africa, Europe, and South America – six countries – Argentina, Morocco, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain, and Uruguay – welcoming and uniting the world while celebrating together the beautiful game, the centenary, and the FIFA World Cup,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

The FIFA Council also launched the bidding process for the 2034 World Cup on Wednesday, inviting the Asian Football Confederation and the Oceania Football Confederation to submit bids. The AFC’s Saudi Arabia has already announced its intention to bid.