The 2030 World Cup will be held in six countries (Image: Getty Images)
Three countries have automatically qualified for the 2026 World Cup, and that figure is set to double for the 2030 international tournament. This time, three teams avoided qualifying: host country Canada, Mexico, and the United States. But in four years, six countries will host at least one match in the tournament. The reigning World Cup champions do not automatically qualify for the next tournament, but this is not the case for finalists Spain and Argentina.
That’s because both countries, along with Morocco, Paraguay, Portugal and Uruguay, are already co-hosts for 2030, with automatic qualification. Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will each play one match to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the World Cup. The remaining matches in the tournament will be played elsewhere, but in a special departure from standard procedure, these countries will be exempted from the grueling qualification process.
The first World Cup, in 1930, was held in Uruguay and was won by Uruguay. They defeated Argentina in the final, and with Paraguay’s participation, they were recognized as the home of CONMEBOL, the only football federation at the time.
Spain, Morocco and Portugal will be the main co-hosts and will share the majority of the tournament after the 100th anniversary games. FIFA also announced measures to provide additional rest time for teams competing in South America.
These 100th anniversary matches will be held on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th June 2030. The opening games in Europe or North Africa will then take place on Thursday the 13th and Friday the 14th.
Matches between the remaining teams in each group – Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay – are scheduled for Saturday the 15th and Sunday the 16th, with the group’s second match scheduled for the following weekend.
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Coach Gianni Infantino approves six countries to automatically qualify for 2030 World Cup (Image: Getty Images)
“The planned schedule will provide approximately 11-12 days of travel and rest before the second match for the six teams playing in South America, and approximately 5-6 days of travel and rest for the remaining six group opponents and all other participating teams,” FIFA said in a statement in March.
“The three matches to be played in South America will be moved up several days before the official opening matches of the FIFA World Cup in Morocco, Portugal and Spain.”
This year’s tournament will be the first World Cup to feature 48 countries. Despite this, the governing body is considering expanding the number of participating teams to 64 ahead of the 100th anniversary tournament.
“When you organize a World Cup, it’s important that you organize it for the whole world,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino told Blue Sports. “It’s not just Europe or South America, it’s virtually the whole world.
“Every country should be able to dream of participating in the World Cup. We see that the quality of the teams is very high and the level is getting higher and higher everywhere in the world. If we don’t give small countries the opportunity to participate in the World Cup, they also lose the incentive to continue to grow.”
For the 2026 World Cup, 16 guaranteed spots will be allocated to European teams, nine to African countries, eight to Asian teams, six to North and South America (including the three North American host countries), one to Oceania, and two to the winners of the intercontinental playoffs.
Victories for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Iraq in these playoffs increased the total quotas for Africa and Asia to 10 and 9 respectively.
