MONTEVIDEO — Four South American countries will on Tuesday launch an unprecedented joint
bid to host the
2030 World Cup with the hope of bringing the global showpiece
back to its first home.
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Uruguay,
Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile’s intention to bid has long been in the making.
More than three
years ago they committed to creating a local organizing committee to coordinate
with South American football’s governing body CONMEBOL to plan their bid.
But it has taken
until now for the “Juntos 2030” (Together 2030) bid to be made official.
It centers on
the desire to “bring the World Cup back to its original home: South America,”
said
CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez.
The very first
edition of the World Cup in 1930 was held in Uruguay and won by the hosts,
beating their neighbors Argentina 4–2 in the final.
The joint South
American bid aims to stage the 2030 final in the very same Centenario stadium
that hosted the first title match 100 years earlier.
“For us it
should be called the 2030 Centenary World Cup,” said Uruguay’s sports minister
Sebastian Bauza.
“What we have to
focus on is the Centenary World Cup. The 100-year celebration of the first
World Cup will be here. Back to the legend, back to its roots!”
Should it be
successful, though, the two tournaments could not be more different.
In 1930 there
were only 13 teams and the entire tournament was played in the same city —
Montevideo — in just three stadiums.
In 2030 there
will be 48 teams with around 15 stadiums used across the four countries.
If successful it
would be the first time that as many as four countries host the World Cup.
The 2026
tournament has already been awarded to three countries — Canada, Mexico, and
the US.
Despite the
Latin American region being one of the worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic,
Chile’s sports minister Alexandra Benado insisted in an interview published on
Monday that all four countries remain in a position to host the tournament.
“Our proposal
will be austere and sustainable and will meet FIFA’s demands,” Benado told El
Mercurio newspaper.
The joint South
American bid will likely come up against at least two other proposals.
Spain and
Portugal have officially submitted a joint bid while Morocco have repeatedly
insisted they will bid to become only the second ever African country to host
the finals.
The UK and
Republic of Ireland decided in February to abandon a joint bid that would have
seen five
FIFA member federations hosting the tournament.
There has also
been tentative talk of an Israeli bid alongside the United Arab Emirates and
Bahrain.
The last World
Cup to be hosted in South America was Brazil 2014.
More than half of the 21
World Cup finals already staged have been in Europe but later this year Qatar
will host the finals, only the second time they will be in Asia.
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