The world football ruling body, FIFA, is set to unite the world in a unique way with the announcement of Morocco, Spain and Portugal as joint hosts of the Centenary World Cup in 2030.
FIFA Council announced on Wednesday that the opening matches of the mundial will take place in South America, uniting three continents and six countries to commemorate the Centenary edition of the FIFA World Cup.
The Council said: “It unanimously agreed to celebrate the centenary of the FIFA World Cup, whose first edition was played in Uruguay in 1930, in the most appropriate way.
“As a result, a celebration will take place in South America and three South American countries, Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, will organise one match each of the FIFA World Cup 2030.
“The first of these three matches will of course be played at the stadium where it all began, in Montevideo’s mythical Estádio Centenário, precisely to celebrate the centenary edition of the FIFA World Cup.”
The World Cup is the most prestigious association football tournament in the world, as well as the most widely viewed and followed single sporting event in the world.
The viewership of the 2018 World Cup was estimated to be 3.57 billion, close to half of the global population, while the engagement with the 2022 World Cup was estimated to be 5 billion, with about 1.5 billion people watching the final match.
Seventeen countries have hosted the World Cup, most recently Qatar, who hosted the 2022 event.
The 2026 tournament will be jointly hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico, which will give Mexico the distinction of being the first country to host the games in three World Cups.
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