Classic FIFA rarities. This Friday, the candidacy process for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups starts, and for the first one there will be only Spain, Portugal and Morocco, and the condition is that the stadiums that host the opening and the finals have at least 80,000 seats.

But already last Wednesday, unanimously, the FIFA Council agreed that the only candidacy for the 2030 World Cup would be the joint candidacy of Spain, Portugal and Morocco, and that the opening match would be played in Uruguay, as a celebration of the centenary of the first championship held in that country. country played in 1930. It was also agreed that Argentina and Paraguay, the countries that joined Uruguay and Chile in the second candidacy project, would host one game each.

These are the details of the 2030 World Cup: direct qualification, ceremony and three games in South America for 100 years of FIFA tournament

And although FIFA has already officially announced that the three host countries of the 2030 World Cup are automatically qualified for those three Conmebol tournaments, there is no clear explanation. However, hundreds of media around the world take it as fact in their news that Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will go directly to the tournament. Of course, none of the newspapers, radio and television networks that confirm this point out how they came to that conclusion.

‘World confusion 2030’: Are Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay already classified? FIFA sows doubts

Spain, Portugal and Morocco have been chosen to host the 2030 World Cup, but the first matches will be in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay

“Bone without meat”

And although FIFA said Montevideo, Asunción and Buenos Aires would each host a “ceremonial match” of the 20230 World Cup and Conmebol, in a syrupy speech by Alejandro Domínguez, its president, wrote on social media that “the Centennial World Cup 2030 begins where it all started. “Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will host the opening matches!” Not everyone is happy in South America. Buenos Aires-based Clarín tackles the subject sharply in a note titled ‘The 2030 World Cup and the meatless bone thrown by FIFA to South America’.

Chile received another blow from FIFA: it was not considered to host one of the matches of the 2030 World Cup.

The newspaper says: “What looks like a joke is celebrated as a triumph. Domínguez and Claudio Tapia (president of AFA) did not have enough hands to shake the hype celebrating the ‘triumph of South America’. Presidents Santiago Peña and Lacalle Pou, Paraguay and Uruguay, plus Argentine candidate Sergio Massa also celebrated online. They’re kidding, aren’t they?” And it adds: “Domínguez and Tapia and various South American governments have done what they could in the last decade to achieve the organization of the World Cup in 2030. It was not enough and FIFA, which ‘manages’ the economic weapon of football, left South America the responsibility.a consolation prize of a crumb. There will be 104 matches in 2030, only three in South America. What are they celebrating?”

Nation, another important newspaper from Buenos Aires, also distanced itself from the official fortunes of Conmebol. This was the title of one of his notes: ‘World Cup 2030 in South America, a mythological story to soften the blow.’

Defeat of Conmebol

In his commentary he says: “Conmebol quickly introduced epic blades… bad news. It’s called distraction. Despite the pomp and pageantry of Alejandro Domínguez, with Claudio Tapia as a supporting player, the news could be summed up like this: ‘South America has been ruled out as the host of the 2030 World Cup, and in exchange for consolation they get three games. ‘ Because that’s what happened. Why was Conmebol ahead of FIFA in its announcement? To give a heroic appearance to defeat.”

Continue Nation: “If the 2030 World Cup retains the 48 teams from 2026, a total of 104 matches will be played. ‘Shipping’ three to South America is less than a few small coins. The knot is not there, but in the fact that the Conmebol invested it in conquest, merit or triumph. He lost, and it is logical that he lost, because today the economic axis of football passes through the Middle East, Europe and the USA. “South America is a very distant coast.”

“Conmebol would never get the votes or investment for the household in 2030. That’s why honesty would be healthier. Do not impose yourself, do not sell colored mirrors. The holding of these symbolic games is a credit to the history of South America, the only real fire. That would be a sound explanation and the noblest announcement.”

‘Neither naive nor stupid’

There is criticism of Domínguez for “choosing the narrative of the feat, and he emphasized ‘The 2030 World Cup Centennial begins where it all began’. And what did Paraguay have to do with the creation of the World Cup, apart from participating in 1930? “La Albirroja is clinging to the possibility of returning to the Cup, something it could not enjoy through sport in 2014, nor in 2018, nor in 2022, and had a bad start in 2026.”

He also asks the question: “and if the leader meant the region… Wasn’t Chile part of the tetra organization? Yes, it was included as of February 2019, but Domínguez swept it away, blaming FIFA for the decision. It smells like a circus and riots.”

One match for Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay was defined as “the World Cup of football, or crumbs for history in a commercial spiral. Neither naive nor stupid. The economic crisis is inevitable, but the mythological story could have been spared.” (D)