Spain will host 2030 World Cup final, federation president insists

Spain favours Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium for the final, while Morocco has proposed the 115,000-seat Hassan II Stadium under construction near Casablanca, with Portugal lacking a suitable venue.

MADRID:

Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) chief Rafael Louzan reiterated on Saturday that Spain would host the final of the 2030 World Cup, which it is co-hosting 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.

Louzan said he was not considering Spain withdrawing its bid to host the World Cup if Morocco were awarded the final.

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 Nov 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.