Where is the next football World Cup being played? Here's who will host the 2026 World Cup, who is in the running for the 2030 tournament, and where the next Euros will be
Where is the next football World Cup being played? Here's who will host the 2026 World Cup, who is in the running for the 2030 tournament, and where the next Euros will be
The Qatar World Cup 2022 may have already taken place, but FIFA has already announced who will host the next competition.
The World Cup Trophy
Following the controversial choices of Russia and Qatar for the 2018 and 2022 competitions respectively, it was announced in 2017 that the European and Asian football confederations would not be eligible to the host the 2026 World Cup.
This meant that only counties from the remaining four confederations could apply, namely CONCACAF (North America), CAF (Africa), CONMEBOL (South America), and OFC (Oceania).
Here’s what happened, where the 2030 tournament will take place, and when international football fans can look forward to the next UEFA European Football Championships.
Where will the 2026 World Cup be held?
In June 2018 a vote was held to decide who would host the 2026 World Cup, at the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow.
The two final candidates were Morocco and a joint North American bid from Canada, the USA and Mexico.
The North American bid won the vote by 134 votes to 64.
The tournament will be held in June and July, taking place across 16 cities, with 60 matches (including every match from the quarterfinals onwards) in the USA and 10 matches in both Canada and Mexico.
It will be the first time the World Cup has been held in more than one country since 2002 (South Korea and Japan), will mean that Mexica becomes the first country to host or co-host the men's World Cup three times.
Where is the 2030 World Cup likely to be held?
No decision has been made on where the 2030 World Cup will be held, but under FIFA rules countries in the Asian and North American football confederations will not be eligible to bid.
So far a number of countries, or groups of countries, have confirmed they will bid.
In Europe, Spain, Portugal and Ukraine have made a joint Iberian bid to host, while Egypt, Greece and Saudi Arabia are aiming to be the first successful inter-confederational hosts.
There’s also a joint South American bid from Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile, while in Africa Morocco have made the only single country bid.
Other countries or groups of countries to have expressed an interest in hosting include Cameroon; Tunisia and Algeria; Columbia, Ecuador and Peru; Kazakhstan; Israel, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain; and Australia and New Zealand.
When and where is the next UEFA European Championship?
International football fans in Europe won't have to wait until 2026 for a major tournament – with the Euros set to return in 2024.
The 17th edition of the UEFA European Championship will be hosted by Germany from 14 June to 14 July.
Games will be held in 10 cities across the country after Germany beat a rival bid from Turkey.
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