“The warm-up will be in Paraguay, the national anthems will be sung in Uruguay, the first half in Argentina, the second in Portugal, extra time in Morocco and penalties in Spain…” Reiner, a colleague from Honduras, humorously X-rayed what the world will see in the 2030 Cup will be like a monster with six heads, though with a European body. More than 50% of the development will take place in Spain and another 25% in Portugal. FIFA’s executive council dropped a bombshell on the soccer universe this Wednesday: The 2030 World Cup will be played in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, although there will be three opening matches in South America, as a tribute to where the World Cup was born here. Those three matches will be in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Only three, the remaining 101 will be held on European and African territory. This is why the Madrid sports club As has titled its entire page “The 2030 World Cup is for Spain!”

Although the information is short and extremely confusing (FIFA has to read the statements three times), it can be concluded without a doubt that the candidacy of Spain, Portugal and Morocco won the election and won the World Cup in 2030 compared to the candidacy of South America, which was Uruguay -Argentina-Paraguay-Chile. And that in 2034 it will be in Asia or Oceania. We put all our chips in Saudi Arabia. The decisive move was that Spain and Portugal agreed to share the seat with Morocco. It so happens that the homeland of Mohamed V already had six rejected bids: 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010, 2018 and 2026. FIFA already felt uneasy then and it is quite possible that they asked Spain to host Morocco (relations they are historically tense because of the Spanish enclaves on Moroccan soil). With that request, they would have the World Cup. The football matrix solved the problem of rejecting a Muslim country for the seventh time. And in doing so, he elegantly got rid of Africa. For many years, the black continent will not claim to be the host.

The big deception faced by the Iberian bid was that Russia in 2018 is very fresh among the host countries, and due to the principle of rotation of places, Europe had to wait several years to host the competition. However, Russia is not quite Europe for countries near the Greenwich Meridian. They don’t consider it their own. Neither does FIFA. Now he says that in 2034, “due to the principle of rotation, it must be Asia or Oceania.” But in choosing Spain and Portugal, he ignored that principle.

South America submitted its candidacy long before everyone else. In 2005, Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez brought the idea to Joseph Blatter that, as 2030 approached, it was only fair that the tournament be held in Uruguay given that it would be 100 years since the first World Cup. And it would be good to organize it with Argentina because the two River Plates were finalists in that first edition. Also, because Uruguay, obviously, cannot organize such an event by itself. But as soon as the aspiration of Spain and Portugal was presented, it became clear that it would be difficult for our continent to realize that dream. They have a higher reality. Let me just say that in a few months, when it is finished, the Santiago Bernabéu will be the most luxurious stadium in the world. Camp Nou will be reopened by the end of 2024, those of Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad are new, Atlético de Madrid debuted with the fantastic Metropolitano in 2017. Even Espanyol has a very modern coliseum that was voted the best stadium in the world in 2010. Our humble grounds are far from that.

Argentina has no dollars in the Central Bank. Any president who pledged to spend 10 billion on the World Cup could face a lynching. And that, even if you take into account the overflowing passion of Argentines for this game. They wouldn’t forgive him. Let’s take another example: how will the citizens of Uruguay react when it becomes known that in order to host one World Cup match, that country spends 300 million dollars to renovate the Centennial…? Why invest a fortune in the renovation of a stadium that no longer has any use…? Peñarol built their excellent new coliseum and Nacional remodeled their Central Park. They no longer play in the mythical Centenario. Spend hundreds of millions for nothing on a cement totem…?

And it’s not just scenarios, there are a thousand requirements that need to be fulfilled, all at a very high cost: preparation of airports, training centers, transport, roads, hospitals, hotels, communications, security, press rooms… Russia 2018. it cost Putin’s government 14,000 million dollars. Too high a figure in South America, even for the four countries combined. Because the combination was Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile. But Chile fell unexpectedly, causing the Chilean media to buzz from the first minute the news broke. “Conmebol has destroyed us,” headlined the newspaper La Cuarta. The target is the head of the Federation, Pablo Milad. “They put him to sleep,” they shout in chorus in Chile from Arica to Puerto Montt.

In Santiago, this news was received as a real bombshell. Christian González, from La Tercera, writes: “Ahead of the decision, the leading role that Chile took in the bid was even highlighted. For this month, namely, a broad meeting of the representatives of the alliance of the four countries that shared the candidacy and took advantage of the Pan American Games is planned. At the meeting, which would take place in La Moneda, the participation of the president Gabrijel Borić was agreed.”

Why so much blurring…? Because by hosting one match, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay automatically qualify for the championship. They shouldn’t suffer qualification, Chile will. Anger multiplies when Paraguay is mentioned. “Uruguay and Argentina go in and out, they played in the final in 1930, but what the hell is Paraguay playing…? “They threw him through the window,” protests in the remaining seven countries. And how many places will the continent have…? In addition to the three mentioned, there will be 3 more fixed places and possibly two playoffs. So, at best, I would rank 8 teams out of ten.

Joint organizations began in 2002 with Japan and South Korea. Why did these two political enemies share the World Cup…? João Havelange was still the president of FIFA in 1996. He promised Japan a tournament, as did his general secretary Sepp Blatter, and Japan started building monumental stadiums. But before the vote – on May 31, 1996 – they polled the members of the Executive Committee and, to their astonishment, realized that South Korea was clearly winning, so they predicted and offered Dr. Chung Mong-joon, president of the Korean Association and owner of Hyundai Motors, they share the seat and avoid the risk of votes. Reluctantly, Mong-joon accepted and the World Cup was perfect, even though there was never any real desire for unity in society. Korea and Japan wanted the Cup themselves.

The United States, Mexico and Canada will be the first home team in 2026. And in 2030 it will go to the Six Nations, although three of them will win one game. The concept of a “compact World Cup”, which FIFA bragged about in Qatar in 2022, i.e. the fraternization of everything in a city with hundreds of thousands of tourist-fans, is completely distorted.

You must be very happy. If I was from South America and FIFA told me “you are organizing the World Cup”, I would be shocked. We are good with the ball, but economically, politically and socially we are in B. We celebrate that they gave it to others. And let’s enjoy those three games. (OR)