Argentina, Uruguay's Role for 2030 FIFA World Cup, Revealed

For the first time ever, the FIFA World Cup will not just be held in different countries, but in different continents as Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay will be hosting several games alongside co-hosts Spain, Portugal, and Morocco.

As ESPN pointed out, FIFA is going big as the 2030 World Cup would be the centennial edition of the prestigious soccer tournament. While FIFA granted the hosting duties to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, the organization also agreed to hold several games in Latin America.

The reason for this was that the first World Cup in 1930 was hosted by Uruguay, with the country being the first World Cup champions as well. This would mean that games will be held not just in Europe and Africa, but also in South America, therefore the games being held on three separate continents.

The majority of the games will be held by the three main co-hosts, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay will each host one match to start the tournament. This includes holding a game where it all began, the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay which hosted the inaugural 1930 World Cup final.

All three co-hosts, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, and the three opening games hosts, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, will all get automatic qualifications for the massive 48-team tournament happening in 2030. Originally, it was just Spain and Portugal co-hosting, but they included their neighbor to the south, Morocco, in a 3-country bid. They were opposed by the joint bid between Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.

"The centennial World Cup could not be far from South America, where everything began," said CONMEBOL President Alejandro Dominguez. "The 2030 World Cup will be played in three continents."

FIFA President Talks About Historic 2030 World Cup

Soon after the reveal of the co-hosts, FIFA President Gianni Infantino released a statement saying, "In a divided world, FIFA and football are uniting." He then added, "The FIFA Council, representing the entire world of football, 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."

He noted that the choice of the three main host countries were unanimously agreed upon by the FIFA council. "Two continents - Africa and Europe - united not only in a celebration of football but also in providing unique social and cultural cohesion. What a great message of peace, tolerance, and inclusion," he added.

He added that the games being played on three continents were because of the "unique global footprint" of the sport. Infantino then concluded that the six countries, Argentina, Morocco, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain, and Uruguay, are "welcoming and uniting the world while celebrating together the beautiful game, the centenary and the FIFA World Cup."

FIFA World Cup Being Hosted By 3 Continents Gets Much Criticism

Despite all the celebrations at having the centennial FIFA World Cup being held across six countries, many are decrying it as "football's most absurd idea."

The Daily Mail noted that such an idea makes the 2030 FIFA World Cup "bloated" and that it will "punish players and fans alike," Not only will players endure more travel across all these countries, but fans will also have to shell even more money for travel expenses.

The newspaper added that the choice to add the three Latin American countries as co-hosts "reeks of a clumsy pacification that will invite scrutiny." It also noted that "Travelling to Buenos Aires from Europe or North Africa could be a 12,000-mile round trip, costing fortunes and sapping the atmosphere that builds in single-nation tournaments."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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