EVERY football player dreams of lifting the World Cup – and the details for the 2030 edition have been confirmed earlier than expected!
For the first time, three countries from two different continents are set to be the main hosts of the iconic competition.
And there will be a special celebration to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the FIFA World Cup which will be held on a DIFFERENT part of the planet.
Qualifying for the 2030 World Cup doesn’t get underway until after the conclusion of the upcoming 2026 edition.
But SunSport can reveal all the details on the history-making event SIX years in advance.
The opening match of the World Cup 2030 will take place on Thursday, June 13.
And the final showdown of the iconic competition is penciled in for Sunday, July 21.
There will be 48 teams from six confederations battling it out to lift the prestigious trophy.
And 20 different venues across 20 different cities is where matches will be played.
The World Cup 2030 will be held across three countries – Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
This means it will be the first-ever World Cup to be held in North Africa with Morocco being one of the hosting countries.
However, to commemorate the 100th anniversary, the first match of the competition is scheduled to be played at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Uruguay – where the first World Cup was held.
In addition to that, fans will witness a special centenary celebration to mark the occasion.
Argentina has been selected to host the second match while Paraguay will host the third and then the rest of the games are set to be played in Spain, Morocco and Portugal.
The World Cup 2030 has already been met with backlash from fans, football officials and environmental groups.
There are concerns about a huge increase in carbon footprint due to fans having to travel large distances between South America and Europe.
Furthermore, players part of teams that get drawn with Argentina, Paraguay or Uruguay will have a significantly shorter amount of rest once having to travel back to the main hosts in Iberia and Morocco.
Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter warned that the number of hosts that the World Cup 2030 is preparing to have would cause the tournament to ‘lose its identity’.
SunSport’s Martin Lipton has confirmed that FIFA memberships agreed – in a joint decision approved “by acclamation” that Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 tournament.
President Gianni Infantino cut a deal with South American chiefs to open the way for the Saudis.
Since then, FIFA has gone through a formal “evaluation” process of the two bids – which both passed with flying colours.
