Spain puts 2030 World Cup final at centre of bid amid FIFA venue reviews

Spain has made hosting the 2030 World Cup final its leading priority, with Royal Spanish Football Federation president Rafael Louzan insisting the country will not compromise over the venue for the tournament’s closing match.

Louzan said staging the final in Spain was “non-negotiable” for his country, although he acknowledged that other aspects of the joint hosting proposal still need to be settled through negotiations between the three organisers.

He was speaking on Saturday at the fifth ProLiga conference, held at the Ciudad del Futbol in Las Rozas, Madrid, as discussions continue over the bid and FIFA assesses the stadiums proposed for the tournament.

The FIFA inspection tour has not yet concluded, Louzan said. He described the first phase of the visits as “exceptional”, but confirmed that several venues are still waiting to be assessed.

Those remaining sites include La Cartuja, stadiums in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Vigo and Valencia. The inspections must be completed before the final list of potential World Cup venues can be established.

Louzan also revealed details of a meeting with FIFA’s technical staff, saying the discussions had been calm and had included a Spanish member of the international team. He said he was reassured about Spain’s position and understood both what the country wanted and what the tournament organisers were seeking.

However, he did not disclose any details of FIFA’s assessments or the outcome of the technical discussions.

The federation president said the process now needed to move towards direct negotiations involving all three parties responsible for staging the competition. Those talks, he added, would be required to complete the agreements and strengthen the joint bid before its final form is approved.

Louzan warned that continued uncertainty could no longer be allowed to persist, with the unresolved issues needing to be settled as decisions on the organisation of the tournament draw closer.

His clearest message concerned the final. While he accepted that several other matters remained open to negotiation, he said Spain’s demand to stage the match was already agreed in principle and would not be surrendered.

“Having the final in Spain is non-negotiable,” Louzan said, underlining the importance of the fixture in Spain’s plans for the 2030 event.

The stadium programme also remains unresolved. Louzan said 20 venues had currently been selected provisionally, but stopped short of confirming that all of them would appear on the final list.

He said the sites were, in principle, progressing in the right direction. Further evaluations will determine how many retain the opportunity to host World Cup matches, leaving the infrastructure plans among the main outstanding issues before the tournament arrangements can be finalised.