2030 FIFA World Cup Host Country: Early-Bird Predictions

In the third quarter of 2024, FIFA will gather to choose the 2030 FIFA World Cup host country. Football fans and experts have plenty of time to guess where the event will be held, and bookmakers are ready to help. With the odds on the next World Cup host revealed, you can already evaluate some countries’ chances of hosting the biggest football tournament on the planet.

It is known that the 2026 World Cup will be held by North American countries – Canada, United States, and Mexico – and it will not be the first time to host a World Cup for some of them. Surprisingly, Mexico has more experience than the US and Canada combined as they held the tournament twice in their history, in 1970 and 1986. The US hosted it in 1994 and Canada has no experience in being a World Cup host country yet. It is surely going to be an exciting tournament with the FIFA World Cup 2026 schedule revealed. But what’s next?

2030 FIFA World Cup Host Country Requirements

The venue for the 2030 World Cup will be chosen in autumn 2024, right after the end of European Championship 2024 in Germany. It is known that current bids to host the 2030 World Cup only include joint ones, i.e. where there are multiple countries hosting matches. It has been a while since more than one country held the World Cup. Last time it was in 2002, when South Korea and Japan united to host the event. Their close location in relation to each other definitely helped the logistics and decreased fitness fatigue for the national teams.

Besides location, the 2030 FIFA World Cup host country has certain infrastructure, accommodation, stadium, and training site requirements. For example, any country or a group of countries must propose at least 14 stadiums with the following capacity:

• 80,000 seats for the opening match & final.
• 60,000 seats for the semi-finals.
• 40,000 seats for all other matches.

Considering all the requirements, there have been many bids for the 2030 FIFA World Cup host country and only two remained active. They are Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile; Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. Some online sportsbooks in Portugal have already revealed their favorites, but we’ll take an unbiased look at them.

The South American Bid: Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile

Let us start with the South American bid that involves Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile. This is the bid that is expected to win the voting and leads the odds at 22Bet. Those countries have a long history of hosting sports events since the 1930s (it was Uruguay who hosted the first World Cup in 1930).

Furthermore, they are also located close to each other and traveling from one country to another will be very easy in all terms. Finally, they all have some relevant experience and all the necessary infrastructure to satisfy guests’ needs. Argentina hosted the World Cup in 1978, Chile did the same in 1962. Paraguay does not have much experience, but they held South American games last year.

The Spain, Portugal & Morocco bid for World Cup 2030

Another active bid is another joint bid by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. At some point it included Ukraine, but the ongoing war the country is currently experiencing is not making them a possible host for such an event. Initially, Ukraine wanted to host several group stage games. However, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco still have enough experience in hosting sports tournaments starting from the 1950s. Most prominent events held by those countries include the 1982 World Cup in Spain, Euro 2004 in Portugal, and Morocco frequently being the location of the FIFA Club World Cup.

Bids that were eliminated include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Greece; Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru; the UK and Ireland. If any other bids are added to the 2030 FIFA World Cup host country list, online gambling sites in Portugal will surely evaluate their chances to win the voting. 

Click here to try the best odds at 22bet Sportsbook