The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the Spanish government met this Thursday in the Ciudad del Fútbol de Las Rozas, together with representatives of the autonomous communities, city councils and clubs interested in hosting the Iberian bid for the 2030 World Cup Until FIFA two years from now who will host the World Cup, the joint project between Spain and Portugal will have time to take shape.
The first step was the official announcement of the 15 Spanish stadiums that are potential venues for the tournament: Camp Nou (Barcelona), RCD Stadium (Barcelona), Santiago Bernabéu (Madrid), Metropolitano (Madrid), La Cartuja ( Seville), La Nueva Condomina (Murcia), Gran Canaria Stadium (Las Palmas), La Rosaleda (Málaga), Mestalla (Valencia), San Mamés (Bilbao), Anoeta (San Sebastián), La Romareda (Zaragoza), El Molinón ( Gijón), Riazor (A Coruña) and Balaídos (Vigo), who presented their candidacy after the deadline but finally had the approval of the RFEF, CSD and the government be part of the triplet.
Of all these stadiums, Spain must keep 11 and scrap four. The venues selected by the RFEF are also joined by three Portuguese fiefdoms: two in Lisbon (Da Luz and José Alvalade) and one in Porto (Do Dragao).
The great rival of the Iberian bid to host the World Cup is another joint project: that shared by Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay in CONMEBOL. The main confirmation of the South American candidacy is the centenary of the celebrations of the first World Cup organized on Uruguayan soil in 1930, although in that case FIFA would disrupt the impeccable order of continental rotation that continues to this day – the previous World Cup, which was held in 2026, will take place in Canada, Mexico and the United States—. In any case, the choice of the final venue, where the 211 associations of the highest body in world football will vote, will not be announced until 2024.
waiting for requests
At the meeting, held this Thursday in the Ciudad del Fútbol de Las Rozas, the RFEF representatives recalled that FIFA’s official requirements for hosting the World Cup tournament are not yet known. If the commitments that all stadiums had to meet in order to decide to host the 2026 World Cup are met, the last named stadiums must have a capacity of at least 40,000 spectators.
Of the 15 stadiums for which the association has applied, more than half do not meet this minimum: Anoeta (39,300 seats), La Romareda (33,600), Riazor (32,500), Gran Canaria (32,400), Nueva Condomina (31,200) , La Rosaleda (30,000), El Molinón (30,000) and Balaídos (29,000).
In the event that FIFA repeats the requirements requested at the 2026 event, these stadiums will have to undergo important logistical and economic reforms before the deadline in order to adapt to the requirements.
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