Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Rafael Louzan has said that Spain should host the 2030 World Cup final and added that the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), staged by their 2030 World Cup co-hosts Morocco, “damaged world football”.
Louzan claimed that Spain has “proven its organisational capacity” to host the final, though a venue is yet to be announced by FIFA, global football’s governing body.
Earlier this month, the AFCON final was overshadowed when Senegal’s players walked off the pitch before the final whistle and temporarily refused to play on after Morocco were awarded a stoppage-time penalty with the match goalless.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino called for action after the “ugly scenes” in Rabat, Morocco’s capital, with prolonged fighting breaking out in the stands as a small number of visiting fans attempted to storm the pitch.
“It is true that in the final and some matches in AFCON, we have seen images that damage not only AFCON but also world football,” Louzan said at the Madrid Sports Press Association gala on Monday, shared by Spanish media outlet AS.
“Spain has proven its organisational capacity over many years and will therefore be the host of the 2030 World Cup. The final of that World Cup will be held here.”
AFCON was staged four years before Morocco co-hosts the 2030 World Cup finals.
The 2030 tournament will be spread across six nations and three continents: 1930 hosts Uruguay, 2022 winners Argentina and Paraguay — the home of the offices of CONMEBOL, South American football’s governing body — are currently scheduled to host one match apiece at the start of the competition, with the remaining 101 games split between Morocco, Portugal and Spain.
No decisions have yet been made on the breakdown of those matches. One candidate may be Morocco’s Hassan II Stadium, currently being constructed in Casablanca and expected to open ahead of the tournament. The stadium is planned to have a capacity of 115,000 spectators, which would make it the largest football stadium in the world.
Real Madrid’s Bernabeu Stadium and Barcelona’s Camp Nou, which have both undergone extensive renovations in recent years, alongside Benfica’s Estadio da Luz in Lisbon would be other possibilities for hosting the final.
Analysis
By La Liga correspondent Dermot Corrigan
Louzan’s comments show that Spain really wants to host the 2030 World Cup final, but the reality is that the final decision will be taken by the FIFA hierarchy much closer to the tournament.
There is a widespread feeling in the Spanish capital that the final should be played at the Bernabeu — given Spain is the biggest of the co-hosts, is supplying the most stadiums and has such a deep football heritage and experience.
However, Louzan and everyone at the Spanish federation are aware that FIFA will make the final call. Detailed planning for the 2030 tournament has not yet begun — it is not expected that the exact stadiums and cities to host which games will not be decided for some years still.
Confirmation that the 2026 final was to be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey only came in February 2024, just over two years before this summer’s tournament is played.
So Louzan’s comments can be taken as a clear indication that Spain wants to host the biggest game in world football. His pointing to the issues at the recent AFCON in Morocco also appear to be part of the usual lobbying and jostling for position ahead of serious negotiations with FIFA which will only begin after the 2026 tournament is finished.
