That the host countries of the 2030 and 2034 World Cups had already been decided was known and not surprising.
But now it's official! Spain, Morocco, Portugal and part of South America (Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay) will host the next World Cup. Then it will be the turn of Saudi Arabia, four years later.
The double decision was made through the voting of a virtual congress of the international football federation.
The 2030 tournament will mark a century since the first World Cup was held in Uruguay and as a result, for the first time the South American nation will earn the right along with Argentina and Paraguay.
This makes it a completely unprecedented candidature, involving three different continental confederations. FIFA confirmed more than a year ago that the joint proposal led by Morocco, Spain and Portugal was the sole bid for 2030.
A joint British and Irish bid was withdrawn as the two countries decided to focus on hosting Euro 2028, while there were suggestions of an unsuccessful bid from South Korea, China, Japan and North Korea.
As for 2034, FIFA used its principle of rotating the main tournament between certain continents, only accepting bids from Asia or Oceania. The body gave potential bidders just one month last year to submit applications, and Australia and Indonesia quickly abandoned the idea of submitting a bid.
This left Saudi Arabia as the sole contender, paving the way for the World Cup to return to the Gulf region after it was hosted in Qatar in 2022. Summer temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere could push the tournament to the end of the year, as it did in 2022. (A2 Televizion)
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