Spain has reaffirmed its determination to stage the final of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, despite Morocco’s growing interest in hosting the tournament’s showpiece match.
Spanish Football Federation president Rafael Louzan made the position clear on Saturday, insisting that his country remained the preferred destination for the final.
Spain will jointly host the competition with Portugal and Morocco, but FIFA is expected to announce the final venue in 2028.
The Spanish federation is backing Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium for the occasion. However, Morocco is also making a strong case with its proposed 115,000-seat Hassan II Stadium, which is under construction in Benslimane, close to Casablanca.
Portugal is considered less likely to host the final because it currently lacks a stadium that meets the expected requirements.
Speaking at the Spanish Football Federation’s headquarters near Madrid, Louzan dismissed any suggestion that Spain could surrender its position in the hosting race.
“There is no other plan than for the final to be held in Spain,” he said.
He further maintained that he had no intention of stepping down from Spain’s hosting ambition, insisting that the possibility of Morocco getting the final was not part of the country’s plans.
His remarks came after Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of Spain’s right-wing People’s Party, said he would push for the country to abandon its World Cup hosting bid if Morocco was chosen to stage the final.
Feijoo made the declaration during a television interview on November 5, ahead of Spain’s November 29 general election.
Reacting to the proposal, Louzan described it as an unlikely scenario and maintained that Spain had no reason to withdraw.
“That notion simply doesn’t exist,” he said, adding that FIFA’s tradition of rotating World Cup hosting duties meant the staging of the final “belongs to the European continent”.
Meanwhile, Louzan revealed that FIFA technical officials had recently inspected several stadiums in Spain as part of preparations for the competition.
The 2030 World Cup will celebrate 100 years of the tournament, which was first held in Uruguay in 1930.
