FIFA begins 2030 World Cup venue assessment with inspections across three host nations

FIFA will send a delegation to inspect proposed host cities and stadiums in Morocco, Portugal and Spain during November and December this year as it moves closer to deciding the venues for the 2030 World Cup.

The visits are part of the continuing planning process for the tournament, which will be staged across the three countries.

The delegation will include representatives from FIFA’s main functional areas and will assess the candidate cities and stadiums in person. The inspections will examine each venue’s readiness, operational plans and proposed infrastructure for the competition.

FIFA said the visits would represent an important stage in selecting the stadiums that could host matches at the tournament.

During the assessment, the delegation is expected to meet local, regional and national authorities, stadium operators, organisations involved in transport and mobility, accommodation providers and other key delivery partners.

The 15 proposed host cities listed by FIFA are Agadir, Barcelona, Bilbao, Casablanca, Fez, Las Palmas, Lisbon, Madrid, Marrakesh, Porto, Rabat, San Sebastian, Seville, Tangier and Zaragoza.

FIFA said it could also visit additional cities during the selection process. It added that the stadium inspections were intended to support its assessment of each candidate city and proposed venue against the organisation’s requirements.

“These visits will help FIFA make its final decision on the selection of stadiums to host the 2030 World Cup,” FIFA said.

The organisation also stressed that the number and type of matches allocated to each stadium would not be decided until the host cities had been confirmed and the competition schedule process had taken place.

“The number of matches and the types of corresponding matches to be held at each stadium will only be determined after the host cities have been confirmed and as part of the match schedule determination process,” FIFA said.

The governing body added that it was continuing to work closely with stakeholders in Morocco, Portugal and Spain to strengthen preparations for the tournament.

“Further information relating to the process for selecting venues for the 2030 FIFA World Cup will be announced in due course,” FIFA said.

The 2030 World Cup will be hosted by Morocco, Spain and Portugal, with the venue-selection process now entering a detailed assessment phase.