The 2030 World Cup will be held in six countries

FIFA announced on Wednesday that the 2030 World Cup will be held in six countries, although the event will be organized by the joint bid from Spain, Portugal, and Morocco.

The president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, announced that the inaugural matches of the tournament will take place in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay as a symbolic tribute to the World Cup held in Uruguay in 1930, as reported by the newspaper El Plural.

Alejandro Domínguez, president of the World Champion Confederation (CONMEBOL), explained that the so-called Centennial World Cup 2030 will start "where it all began."

"Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay will host the inaugural matches of the #CentennialWorldCup," he said on his Twitter account.

The FIFA Council approved the union of the two bids –in South America and Europe– to create a major global agreement, which means that the 2030 World Cup will be hosted in six different countries. 

Uruguay will be the host country for the inaugural match, with its national team, known as the "celeste," as the host; Argentina will host the first match of its national team, the "albiceleste"; and Paraguay will be the host country for the first match of its national team, known as the "guaraní."

In the old continent, Morocco will have between 4 and 5 venues for the tournament; Portugal will host 3 venues; and Spain –which will host a World Cup for the first time in 48 years, since the 1982 edition– will have approximately 10 venues, including the final venue of the tournament.

Infantino's decision will be submitted for formal ratification by the FIFA Congress, scheduled for December 2024.

The joint candidacy of Spain, Portugal, and Morocco has undergone several changes and challenges throughout the selection process, with the inclusion of Ukraine as an option that was ultimately dismissed.

Similarly, the emergence of Saudi Arabia raised new uncertainties, but this country was later temporarily excluded because it may host the World Cup in 2034.

The decision has sparked controversy. Several internet users questioned the announcement of hosting the World Cup in six countries and suggested that it would be fair to keep it in South America, which began this journey 100 years ago.

"In 6 COUNTRIES are you going to host a World Cup? You love money so much that you ruin the mystique and culture of football? Keep it in South America and stop doing business with everything," a Twitter user stated.

"It’s a disaster to divide a World Cup among continents; what they are doing makes no sense," "This is the biggest shame in the history of football," "This is a huge scam. They are going to have three matches here (...) And on top of that, CONMEBOL is going to present it as an achievement? No, Domínguez, the entire World Cup here and the final in Montevideo like in 1930, or there’s no Centenario. They’re going to screw us like they did to Athens in 1996," were other comments on the post by the president of CONMEBOL.