Spain ‘cannot be beaten’ in 2030 World Cup final venue dispute – Louzan

Rafael Louzan, president of the Spanish Football Federation, has insisted Spain should host the 2030 World Cup final, responding to comments from his Moroccan counterpart Fawzi Lekjaa that Casablanca would stage the tournament’s showpiece match.

The 2030 World Cup will be jointly hosted by Spain, Morocco and Portugal, but FIFA has not yet decided which stadium will be used for the final.

Louzan told the El Partidazo de COPE programme, in comments reported by Mundo Deportivo, that Lekjaa’s remarks should be viewed in the context of Morocco’s election process, which has only recently begun.

He also acknowledged that communication between the two federation presidents had broken down some time ago and described Lekjaa’s comments on Thursday as simply “another statement”.

“Spain is the country that took the initiative, and there should be no doubt that Spain should be the country organising the final,” said Louzan. “The final decision belongs to FIFA.”

FIFA president Gianni Infantino and a delegation from football’s world governing body are due to visit Spain, Morocco and Portugal in the coming months.

Louzan stressed that the eventual decision was not his to make, while repeating his view that the issue should have been settled when former Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales included Morocco among the countries involved in hosting the tournament.

“This should have been decided at the time. But it was not, and despite that I have complete confidence in Spain,” he said.

The Spanish official added that his country would remain committed to the World Cup even if it failed to secure the final.

“Whatever happens, Spain cannot withdraw from the World Cup if it does not get to host the final,” he said. “There are signed agreements, and we have to be patient. Logic should lead us to Spain being the country that organises the final.”

On the proposed venues, Louzan said Spain currently had nine stadiums in contention and hoped that number would rise to 11 with the inclusion of Valencia and Vigo.

He explained that all the Spanish stadiums remained provisional candidates because no agreements had yet been signed. Morocco has six stadiums available for consideration, while Portugal has three.

Louzan also noted that the stadium for the 2026 World Cup final had been selected one year before the match was due to take place.

He ended his comments with a firm assessment of Spain’s position in the race to host the final: “Spain cannot be beaten.”