Guys, I just read the whole thing and I can't believe it. It turns out that the 2030 World Cup is not only played in three countries (Spain, Portugal and Morocco), but right now there's an underground fight over ONE thing: where the final is played. And the best of all is that Morocco, which joined the bid almost as an afterthought, is lobbying as if it were the main host. The last-minute guest wants the star dish.
Get some context. This bid was born in the mind of Rubiales in 2018, when he was still friends with Sánchez and took Infantino around La Moncloa. Portugal was there from the start, but Morocco... no. It was Sánchez himself who publicly invited him during a visit to Rabat in November of that year, to the surprise of the Portuguese. And so the years went by: Spain and Portugal officially presented the bid in June 2021 and Morocco didn't jump on the bandwagon until March 2023, replacing that weird intention to bring in Ukraine.
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Photos: elmundo.es
And here comes the big deal. The Spanish Federation, which was the public face of the whole project, fell into monumental disarray after Rubiales' fall (August 2023) that lasted more than two years. While Spain was trying to figure out who was in charge, Morocco was strengthening its relationship with Infantino. They don't care about the day-to-day of the tournament: they only care about one match, the final. And watch out, because there are already those who say there's a tacit pact between Infantino himself and Florentino Pérez for the final to be held at the Bernabéu... if that's confirmed, good Lord, the row that will break out in Rabat. 😬
So you can see the timeline of how we got here:
Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
Sept 2018 | Rubiales, Sánchez and Infantino at La Moncl |