Sports
Hosts, Dates & Guide to FIFA Centenary Tournament
The 2030 FIFA World Cup promises to be one of the most unique editions in the tournament’s history as it celebrates its centenary.
Marking 100 years since the first ever World Cup in Uruguay, the competition will span three continents and six host nations, combining a celebration of football tradition with a modern, expanded format.
With Spain, Portugal and Morocco staging the majority of the tournament, whilst Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay host centenary matches, the 2030 World Cup is set to provide the grandest tournament the sport has ever seen.
But when will the tournament take place, which cities will have the honor of hosting the tournament, and how will qualification work?
When the 2030 World Cup Takes Place
- June 8, 2030 – July 21, 2030
The 2030 FIFA World Cup is expected to kick off on 8th June, 2030 with the first of three centenary matches. Uruguay’s Estadio Centenario, which hosted the majority of matches at the inaugural tournament in 1930, has been selected as the opening venue for the tournament.
Following the other two centenary games, played in Argentina and Paraguay, the tournament will continue in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with the final expected to take place on 21st July, 2030. Given that the competition is a while away, these dates are based on FIFA’s current planning framework, with the full tournament calendar expected to be published closer to the event.
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World Cup 2030 Host Countries
As a celebration of 100 years since the first World Cup, the 2030 edition will be the first of its kind, spanning three continents and six host nations.
As hosts of the 2022 and 2026 competitions respectively, the 2030 tournament could not be hosted by members of the Asian or North American football federations. This left the African, South American, Oceanic and European federations to fight over the privilege of hosting the historic tournament.
The United Kingdom and Ireland had initially launched a bid to host the historic tournament, but abandoned it after announcing their decision to bid for Euro 2028. FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, also previously alluded to a potential rule change that would’ve seen Saudi Arabia allowed to launch a joint bid with Egypt and Greece for the 2030 tournament.
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However, it was decided that the majority of the tournament would take place across Europe and Africa after Spain, Portugal and Morocco won hosting rights after seeing their joint bid voted through at the 2024 FIFA Congress meeting on 11th December.
However, not all the games will be played in Europe and Africa, after FIFA announced that the tournament would feature three centenary games, the first of which will play out at the stadium that hosted the first ever World Cup final, Uruguay’s Estadio Centenario in Montevideo.
The Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, Argentina, will also host a game at the 2030 World Cup to commemorate Argentina’s spot in the final of the inaugural tournament. Similarly, Paraguay‘s Estadio General Pablo Rojas will house the third and final centenary match as the home of CONMEBOL, the only confederation in existence at the time of the 1930 World Cup.
|
Host Nation |
Proposed Host Cities |
|---|---|
|
Uruguay |
Montevideo (centenary match only) |
|
Argentina |
Buenos Aires (centenary match only) |
|
Paraguay |
Asunción (centenary match only) |
|
Morocco |
Agadir Casablanca Fez Marrakesh Rabat Tangier |
|
Portugal |
Lisbon Porto |
|
Spain |
Barcelona Bilbao Las Palmas Madrid San Sebastián Seville Valencia Vigo Zaragoza |
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World Cup 2030 Qualification
As the host nations, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Morocco, Portugal and Spain will all receive automatic qualification to the 2030 tournament. So far, only CONCACAF and UEFA have confirmed changes to their qualifying format for the competition.
CONCACAF
CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, announced that nations will have to survive a three-round qualification format in order to make it to the World Cup in 2030. Initially, the 22 teams ranked 14-35 in the CONCACAF rankings will be drawn into pairs. The winner across two legs will advance into round two.
From there, they will be joined by the top 13 ranked associations to create six groups of four, each playing one another home-and-away. The top two from each of these groups will progress to the final round, where the 12 teams will, once again, be split into groups of four where each team plays each other twice. The top two from each group will be awarded with automatic qualification to the World Cup, whilst the two best third-placed teams will play a two-legged play-in, with the aggregate winner qualifying for the FIFA Intercontinental playoffs.
UEFA
UEFA, on the other hand, have announced a new qualification format that mirrors both the Champions League and Nations League. The two-tier process aims to remove uncompetitive games whereby bigger nations face off against smaller teams.
League 1 will see the 36-highest ranked countries, as determined by the 2028-29 Nations League drawn into three groups of 12, from which teams will play six games against different opponents. The best-ranked teams in each group will gain automatic qualification, with the rest entering the playoffs.
The 18 lower-ranked teams will also be split into three groups, with the top performing teams in each group joining those who missed out on automatic qualification from League 1, in the playoffs, to determine the remaining European representatives at the World Cup.
Key World Cup 2030 Qualification Dates
|
Confederation |
Important Qualification Dates |
|---|---|
|
CONCACAF |
Round 1: September–October 2027 Round 2: October–November 2027 and March 2028 Final Round: June 2028 and September-October 2029 Play-in: November 2029 |
|
UEFA |
March 2029-March 2030* |
|
AFC |
October 2027–November 2029* |
|
CAF |
November 2027–November 2029* |
|
CONMEBOL |
September 2027–September 2029* |
|
OFC |
September 2028–March 2029* |
|
Play-Offs |
March 2030* |
*Estimated time-frame based on 2026 qualification dates
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Sports
Tottenham Prepare £85m Bid For Striker Perfect For De Zerbi
Tottenham are preparing to make a move to improve their forward line this summer, having already reinforced their goalkeeping department, defence and midfield.
Spurs have been by far the busiest side in the summer transfer window so far, completing six new signings for head coach Roberto De Zerbi.
Martin Dubravka, Marcos Senesi, Andy Robertson, Jan Paul van Hecke, Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali have all arrived at the club, with the Lilywhites splashing out more than £237million in the process.
But despite all those new signings there has so far been an absence of new forward players coming into the club.
Forward players linked with a move to Spurs
GIVEMESPORT understands that at the start of the window Spurs were looking at the potential of adding a new No.9 to their ranks, while a left forward was also on the cards.
Tottenham have been in talks with Manchester City over a move for Savinho, while Rafael Leao has reportedly been offered to the club, with the Portuguese set to leave AC Milan this summer.
One player Spurs have started to be heavily linked with a move to sign is Eli Kroupi Junior from Bournemouth.
The 20-year-old became the new Premier League record holder for the most goals scored in a season by a teenager last year, notching 13 in his first campaign in the top flight. And that has led to plenty of speculation around his future, with Spurs not the only club interested in signing him this summer.
A bid in the region of £75million was reported, with Bournemouth not keen on selling the player, but now it is being reported that Spurs are readying a bid of around £85million to try and tempt the Cherries into sanctioning a deal.
The philosophy from Tottenham this summer has been to sign readymade Premier League players, with experience in England’s top flight, after a number of transfer windows where the emphasis has seemed to be on bring in young talent.
Kroupi would actually tick both boxes, in terms of being young and a player for the future, but a player for the hear and now too given his impressive first season in the Premier League.
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Talksport reporter Alex Crooks said: “Tottenham are preparing a potential £85million bid for Junior Kroupi to try and test Bournemouth’s resolve that he is not for sale this summer.
“We know Bournemouth are in contract negotiations with [Alex] Scott having received an enquiry from Arsenal, but Tottenham and Kroupi seems to be bubbling under.”
Kroupi has been described as being capable of playing in an ‘elite system’ and signing him would take Spurs’ spending over the £300million and it is clear the forward line is the last piece of the jigsaw for De Zerbi. He would certainly fit in more with the new strategy at Spurs over the likes of Rafael Leao and the fact he can play off the wide left or through the middle is a plus point. Whether he is yet worth £85million remains to be seen, but Tottenham have identified targets quickly and paid what they have been asked already this summer so why stop now?
Kroupi Junior could be the perfect De Zerbi signing
He has also been coached to do what De Zerbi might ask of him in his Tottenham team.
Speaking last season, then Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola said: “Junior has been a big challenge for me this season, one of the biggest challenges because we noticed straightaway that he has special things.
“His finishing is top for me. But we had to work a lot with him and, especially, he has had to do a lot of work that he wasn’t used to win his minutes.
“I have tried to make him focus on other parts and he has improved a lot. In the past month, he has allowed us to put out a very offensive line-up because he is giving us the work rate so we can keep it all together and not suffer defensively too much.”
De Zerbi expects everyone in his team to work hard, press high and demand the ball, something Kroupi clearly has now after working under Iraola.
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USA Fans Beg Donald Trump to Get Involved After Belgium Defeat
After several days of noise surrounding the availability of Folarin Balogun, and Donald Trump’s involvement, the United States of America crashed out of the 2026 World Cup.
A defeat against Belgium on home soil ensured none of the three host nations (USA, Canada and Mexico) progressed beyond the Round of 16. Charles De Ketelaere scored a first-half brace before Hans Vanaken and Romelu Lukaku took advantage of mistakes to seal a 4-1 win.
Malik Tillman scored a free-kick, which turned out to be irrelevant, and Mauricio Pochettino’s side failed to put up much of a fight against the Belgians. Despite Balogun’s one-game ban being suspended, allowing him to play, the striker didn’t really get a sniff.
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Donald Trump, the American President, to those unaware, has been suspiciously absent from every single World Cup fixture to date. Before the competition started, the 80-year-old was very involved and caused a lot of complications as the leader of a host nation.
However, concerns over chants directed at the President have kept him away from matches, even those involving the USMNT. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t got involved, however.
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They did not hold back at all.
Trump has admitted he gave Gianni Infantino and FIFA a nudge in the right direction when it came to Balogun’s harsh suspension. Now, he’s being urged to do the same and use his relationship with Infantino to the USA’s benefit again.
Fans have quickly jumped on social media to plead with the country’s leader to get involved again. One suggested they could be given a second chance at the World Cup, saying: “The US can still win the World Cup if Donald Trump has the courage.”
“Do you think Trump will make another phone call to ask them to overturn Belgium’s win? I wouldn’t put it past him,” another supporter added.
It was suggested that a phone call between Trump and Infantino was the solution as others added: “Trump’s on the phone now asking FIFA to reverse the score” and: “The officials were totally corrupt. Trump needs to call Gianni.”
The general sentiment was summed up perfectly by one fan, who said: “Overturn the result, please Donald Trump.”
Ultimately, there’s nothing the President can do about the result on the pitch. After beating Paraguay and Australia in the group stage, before dispatching Bosnia in the knockouts, the USMNT cam unstuck against stronger opposition (Turkey and Belgium).
Trump Made ‘Rigged’ Claim Before Belgium Loss
Trump has so far, uncharacteristically, been silent since the USA’s exit from the competition. However, he did make a comment before the match which now looks open to ridicule.
Speaking at the White House, he addressed several issues, including the Balogun saga. But one comment which stuck out to many was when he said Americans could claim the game vs Belgium was ‘rigged’ if they lost.
He said: “If they beat us, then they can be really proud. The other way, if they beat us, I say it was rigged, just like the election was rigged in 2020.”
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USWNT Icon Carli Lloyd Slams Christian Pulisic After Belgium Loss
USWNT legend Carli Lloyd has sparked a big reaction following comments she made about Christian Pulisic after USA’s humbling World Cup exit on Monday night. The Stars and Stripes had themselves dreaming of a historic tournament on home soil after a potential route to the semi-finals emerged following a table-topping group campaign.
During the early knockings of the competition, Mauricio Pochettino – who had talked up his side’s chances of beating the likes of Spain, England, and Argentina this summer – had led USMNT to back-to-back victories against Paraguay and Australia. A 3-2 loss to Turkiye showed that fragilities did exist, however, and that feel-good factor counted for nothing in a 4-1 defeat to Belgium in the Round of 16.
Even so, it has still been a special occasion for the hosts, who have shown they are starting to ‘get’ the fuss around football. But as quickly as hopes of a deep run emerged, they were emphatically crushed by Belgium. That reality was reflected in Lloyd’s assessment of a player who was expected to be the focal point of the USMNT’s attack this summer.
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‘Captain America’ He is known for his selfless nature, innate leadership, and a refusal to back down from bullies, making him the ultimate symbol of justice and protection. Well, at least in the movies he is, because the AC Milan winger hardly showed any of that during USA’s World Cup run, with Pochettino leaning on others, such as Folarin Balogun, for a memorable tournament.
Speaking on FOX Sports after the crushing defeat to one of Europe’s recent powerhouses, Lloyd – who has won two World Cups – laid bare the realities of his performances. She said (watch the full segment below):
“You wanted some of the big time players to step up in big moments, and I’ve got to be honest, I was a bit disappointed in Christian Pulisic. I think, whether he wants to be the star of this team or not, we didn’t see enough from him in this particular game and really the whole World Cup.”
The reaction to her comments were mostly in agreement, though one or two X users didn’t seem ready to accept that the team’s highest profile asset didn’t turn up in their hour of need.
“She doesn’t know what it’s like to punch above your weight playing superior opponents,” one remarked, as another added: “She’s the fakest person ever!!!! Was saying the complete opposite a day ago. Omg her commentary is always useless and horrible.”
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Elsewhere, however, a third wrote: “She has been a great analyst all tournament long,” as others called her “Spot on.” A fifth concluded: “This is how it’s done. Be honest with viewers. A lot of sports teams and their broadcasters could learn from this. It’s OK to be critical when criticism is warranted.”
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US Pundits Doubles Down on Pulisic Criticism
In a series of tweets, analyst Nick Wright pointed out that Pulisic skipped the Gold Cup to prepare for the World Cup and blasted the 27-year-old for a “no-show” in the tournament. He wrote:
“To have the man who is supposed to be the greatest player in the history of our country simply no-show in the biggest tournament of his life is just awful.”
Journalist Josina Anderson, meanwhile, said the US men’s team needs to have an “honest conversation” about Pulisic in response to a tweet about his turnover troubles, with his summer ending with four matches, four shots, one assist, and zero goals.
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