RABAT: King Mohammed VI of Morocco announced on Tuesday that his country had joined the bid by Spain and Portugal to host the centenary World Cup in 2030.
The announcement means that war-torn Ukraine is likely to be dropped from the bid.
King Mohammed made the announcement in a message delivered as he was named the winner of the African Football Confederation 2022 Award of Excellence in Kigali, where world governing body FIFA is holding its annual congress.
The Spanish and Portuguese federations did not respond to requests from AFP for confirmation of Morocco’s inclusion.
Spain and Portugal declared their joint candidacy in 2021, before adding Ukraine to their bid last October.
In contrast to the distance between Ukraine, and Spain and Portugal, Morocco is separated from Spain only by the Strait of Gibraltar.
A South American bid including Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile is set to challenge the Iberian bid, and Saudi Arabia hopes to lead a joint ticket with Egypt and Greece.
The World Cup has had joint hosts before.
In 2002 Japan and South Korea shared the competition. In 2026, the finals will be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada, when 11 of the 16 planned venues will are in the US.
The 2026 World Cup will expand from 32 teams to 48 and, under the format FIFA announced on Tuesday, will stretch over 104 matches, up from 64 in Qatar last year.
Morocco was the other candidate for 2026 but finished a distant second in the voting.
That was the fifth time Morocco had bid to host the finals after trying for 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2010 World Cups.
Morocco had already said it planned to bid for the 2030 World Cup, which has been held in Africa once, in South Africa in 2010.
“This candidature will be a gathering of the best on both sides, and the demonstration of an alliance of genius, creativity, experience and means,” said King Mohammed in his message, read by the Moroccan Minister of Sports Chakib Benmoussa.
At the last World Cup, in December in Qatar, Morocco became the first nation from ether Africa or the Arab world to reach the semifinals.
The first World Cup, in 1930, was hosted and won by Uruguay, which is making a joint bid with Argentina, Paraguay and Chile.
Morocco says joining Spain-Portugal FIFA 2030 World Cup bid
https://arab.news/bx26g
Morocco says joining Spain-Portugal FIFA 2030 World Cup bid
- Spain and Portugal declared their joint candidacy in 2021, before adding Ukraine to their bid last October
- Morocco had already said it planned to bid for the 2030 World Cup, which has been held in Africa once
Morocco achieve record FIFA ranking, Senegal rise to 12th
- Morocco moved up three spots in the January ranking to eighth
- The 2022 World Cup semifinalists’ previous best was 10th in April 1998
RABAT: Morocco have achieved their highest FIFA men’s world ranking, rising to eighth, despite losing the Africa Cup of Nations final to Senegal, who climbed to 12th on Monday.
Morocco were beaten 1-0 after extra time by Senegal in the decider in Rabat on Sunday, but the hosts had a chance to win the trophy with a last-gasp penalty at the end of regulation time.
However, Brahim Diaz squandered the kick after having to wait some 14 minutes for the Senegal players to return, as they walked off the field to protest the penalty decision.
Morocco moved up three spots in the January ranking to eighth. The 2022 World Cup semifinalists’ previous best was 10th in April 1998.
The highest ranking achieved by an African team was Nigeria’s fifth in April 1994, while Egypt posted the best ranking among Arab nations when they reached ninth in July 2010.
Champions Senegal, who emerged victorious for a second time in the last three editions, moved up seven spots to reach their highest-ever ranking. Their previous best was 17th, achieved in 2024.
The AFCON results have had a huge impact on the ranking of African teams, as several positions have shifted.
Bronze medallists Nigeria (26th) were the team that gained the most points, collecting 79.09 points to move up 12 spots, the same as Cameroon (45th), making them the biggest climbers.
Egypt, who reached the semifinals of the Africa Cup of Nations, climbed four places to 31st, three spots behind Algeria.
Gabon, who were eliminated in the group stage, lost 44.97 points to become the team that lost the most points, dropping to 86th. Equatorial Guinea, meanwhile, suffered the biggest fall, sliding 10 spots to 107th.
European champions Spain kept top spot, ahead of World Cup holders Argentina. France are third, followed by England, Brazil, Portugal and the Netherlands, with no change in the ranking of the top seven teams.
