Spain will host 2030 FIFA World Cup final, federation president insists

FILE PHOTO: “There is no other plan than for the final to be held in Spain,” says Spanish Football Federation President Rafael Louzan (right). | Photo Credit: AFP

The 2030 World Cup final will be in Spain, Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) head Rafael Louzan reiterated on Saturday, adding that he is not considering “withdrawing” should he be wrong.

Spain is organising the next World Cup with Portugal and Morocco. The decision on the venue for the final will be made in 2028, Louzan said.

Spain favours Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium for the final. Portugal does not have a suitable stadium but Morocco has suggested the 115,000-capacity Hassan II Stadium being built in Benslimane near Casablanca.

“There is no other plan than for the final to be held in Spain,” said Louzan at a conference at the RFEF’s Ciudad del Futbol on the outskirts of Madrid.

“I am not currently considering the possibility of withdrawing from Spain, as the prospect of Spain not hosting the final is not on the table,” he said.

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Louzan was responding to Alberto Nunez Feijoo, the leader of the right-wing People’s Party.

In a television interview on November 5, Feijoo said that were he to become prime minister in the general election on November 29, he would advocate withdrawing Spain’s bid to host the World Cup should Morocco be awarded the final.

Luzon said the question was entirely hypothetical.

“That notion simply doesn’t exist,” he said, adding that under FIFA’s tradition of rotating the World Cup, the staging of the final “belongs to the European continent”.

A delegation of FIFA technical experts spent last week visiting Spanish stadiums that are hoping to host matches during the tournament, Louzan said.