As the football world focuses on the upcoming World Cup final in New York on Sunday, attention is also turning to the 2030 tournament's final venue, which remains undecided. Morocco, Portugal, and Spain are set to co-host the 2030 World Cup, but FIFA has not yet announced where the final will be played.

Spain asserts it will host the final, with Spanish Football Federation President Rafael Louzan stating, “Spain has a proven organisational capacity over many years, and therefore Spain is going to be the one to lead that World Cup 2030 and where the final of the tournament will be played.”

Morocco is competing for the honor by constructing a new $12-billion stadium outside Casablanca, the Hassan II stadium, which will seat 115,000 spectators and is expected to be the largest in world football upon completion by the end of next year. This stadium is one of the contenders to host the final, alongside two Spanish venues: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, which has an 83,000-seat capacity after renovations completed in late 2024, and Barcelona’s Camp Nou, which is partially reopened and undergoing renovations to increase its capacity to 105,000 but is behind schedule.

The competition for hosting the final has intensified following disruptions during the Africa Cup of Nations final in Morocco in January, where crowd violence and a brief walk-off occurred during Senegal’s win over Morocco at the Prince Moulay Abdallah Stadium in Rabat, which holds 69,500 seats.

If Casablanca is selected, it would mark only the second time an African city has hosted the World Cup final, after Johannesburg in 2010, where Spain won its only World Cup title to date. Historically, when Spain hosted the 1982 World Cup, the final was held at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Italy defeating West Germany 3-1.

No official decision has been made regarding the allocation of matches, with FIFA and the three host countries continuing consultations.

Sources