World Cup: Who will host the next tournaments?

The 2026 World Cup, hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico, was the first edition of the tournament to feature 48 teams and 104 matches.

Looking beyond the expanded competition, FIFA has already confirmed the hosts for the next two editions after making the announcements at its Extraordinary Congress in December 2024.

At that meeting, FIFA president Gianni Infantino formally announced that the 2030 World Cup will be staged across cities in Spain, Morocco and Portugal, following the three-nation model, after the opening games are held in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay to celebrate the centenary of the first ever World Cup staged in 1930. The three main host countries have nominated 20 stadiums spread across 17 cities to host 101 matches.

Where will the 2030 World Cup be held?

Three grounds are being considered to host the opening fixture and final of the 2030 World Cup. They are the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, the Camp Nou in Barcelona, and the Grand Stade Hassan II in Casablanca.

The Moroccan venue is still under construction and is set to become the largest arena at the tournament, with a capacity of 115,000. According to the international press, the ground is expected to stage the final of the competition. A final decision on the venue for the showpiece match is yet to be made by FIFA.

Beyond that mega-structure, the Adrar Stadium, Fes Stadium, Marrakech Stadium, Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium and Grand Stade de Tanger are also scheduled to host matches.

Spain's list of World Cup host stadiums has changed since the original announcement, with two venues withdrawing from the plans. La Rosaleda in Malaga pulled out in July 2025 due to renovation costs, while Riazor in A Coruna stepped aside in March 2026 because of the expenses involved in hosting matches.

Both stadiums have since been replaced, with Nou Mestalla in Valencia and Estadio de Balaidos in Vigo taking their places, although the changes are still awaiting final FIFA approval.

The other confirmed venues are Anoeta, known commercially as Reale Arena (Real Sociedad); Camp Nou (Barcelona); Gran Canaria (Las Palmas); La Cartuja (Seville); Metropolitano (Atletico Madrid); Nuevo Romareda (Zaragoza); RCDE Stadium (Espanyol); San Mames (Bilbao); and Santiago Bernabeu (Real Madrid).

Portugal, which is set to host World Cup matches for the first time, has selected the Estadio da Luz, Estadio do Dragao and Estadio Jose Alvalade as the venues for fixtures on Portuguese soil.

Also at the 2030 tournament, three matches will be played in South American countries to mark the centenary of the first edition of the competition.

The countries chosen to stage these matches are Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The latter, in fact, hosted the inaugural edition of the World Cup back in 1930, when the Uruguayans themselves were crowned champions.

The commemorative match will be held at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo on 8 June, alongside fixtures at Paraguay's national stadium and the Estadio Monumental in Argentina. After those three opening fixtures, the tournament will move across to Europe and Africa for the remainder of the group stage and knockout rounds. The tournament's closing ceremony, meanwhile, will take place on 21 July.

Where will the 2034 World Cup be held?

Real Madrid Stadium Upgrade | Full interior shot of new Santiago Bernabeu with retractable roof and pitch — The new interior of Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu.

One of FIFA's leading partners, Saudi Arabia, will host the 2034 World Cup. It will be the second time in 12 years that the tournament has been staged in the Middle East, following the 2022 edition in Qatar.

The competition will feature 48 nations across 104 matches. A start date for this edition has yet to be set, with the high temperatures across the region during June and July likely to push the tournament back to November and December, as was the case when the Qatar tournament was staged mid-season over the winter.

The edition is set to include matches in Neom, a vast mega-development on the shores of the Red Sea that is home to a futuristic linear city. A 46,000-capacity stadium is being built there and is due to be completed in 2032, in time to host matches at the tournament.

For the tournament, the Saudis have made 15 stadiums available -11 of them built from scratch alongside another four undergoing redevelopment. Among them is the King Salman International Stadium in the capital Riyadh, with a capacity of 92,760. Organisers intend for the venue to stage both the opening match and the final of the tournament.

In total, there will be five main host cities: Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar, Abha and Neom.

How does FIFA choose World Cup host nations?

FIFA selects World Cup hosts through a bidding process open to member associations, with countries able to submit individual proposals or joint bids.

Each candidate is assessed on factors including stadiums, transport links, accommodation and hospitality, while also providing guarantees regarding visas, security and financial commitments.

FIFA's Congress, made up of all 211 member associations, with each holding one vote, then decides the host by considering the strength of each bid alongside the confederation rotation principle. This aims to spread hosting rights across different regions by preventing confederations that have recently staged the tournament from immediately bidding again.

FIFA has now turned to joint and multi-nation bids, allowing countries to share the infrastructure demands of hosting an expanded 48-team tournament, with this approach used for both the 2026 and 2030 editions.

Hosts are normally confirmed several years before the competition begins, giving nations enough time to prepare stadiums and wider infrastructure, which is why the 2030 and 2034 hosts had already been selected before the 2026 World Cup started.