By Paul Nicholson
June 4 – The bid by Spain and Portugal to host the 2030 World Cup will get an official stamp tonight before a friendly match between the two countries at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid.
The game marks 100 years since the neighbouring countries first played each other in a football match and the heads of state and prime ministers of both countries will be in attendance to symbolically mark the institutional support for the 2030 bid.
“His Majesty King Felipe VI, the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, the Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Costa and the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, will make visible the strength of this project, which will unite the citizens and fans of these two countries to host the great World Cup event of the year 2030,” said a press release.
Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, and the Portuguese prime minister, Antonio Costa will also be on hand to lend formal governmental support to The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF presidents, Luis Rubiales and Fernando Soares Gomes da Silva, to activate the bidding process.
It is a significant statement of intent and support by the two countries with a ceremony that will broadcast live on the state TV channels in Spain and Portugal.
The current bidding landscape for the 2030 World Cup has been looking a little foggy since the start of the pandemic with football preoccupied in getting its delayed competitions played. However, with the Saudi Arabian proposal (backed by Morocco) to investigate the possibility of doubling up on World Cups by making them every two years, and World Cup 2022 qualifying having restarted across the world, the focus has gently been moving back towards football’s biggest global gathering.
Europe will likely have two bids for the 2030 World Cup with the four British nations having agreed to look at a collaboration. UEFA and its president Aleksander Ceferin are keen to have just one bidder from Europe in order not to split the confederation vote.
China were expected to make their own play for the 2030 event, though that always looked like a long shot taking into account any principle of rotation, with an AFC member already hosting 2022. A combined bid from South America including Uruguay (venue of the inaugural World Cup in 1930) and Argentina, also appears to have lost momentum.
The Spanish and Portuguese announcement is a powerful statement of intent tied to a meaningful anniversary and coming at a time when international unity and co-operation has probably never been more important.
The Spanish national team was first established in 1920 for the Antwerp Olympics, and played its first two games on Spanish territory in 1921. The first was against Belgium and the second, in December of that same year, against Portugal. The match, played at the O’Donnell stadium in Madrid, saw Spain beat Portugal 3-1, with two goals from Alcántara and a magnificent one fheaded goal from Meana. Augusto scored for the Portuguese.
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