2030 World Cup: Leaks Indicate FIFA Chief Was in Favor of Morocco Joint Bid

Reports from Spanish media have revealed that there was a plan for Morocco to join Spain and Portugal in a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup, with support from FIFA President Gianno Infantini.

Rabat – Reports from Spanish media have revealed that there was a plan for Morocco to join Spain and Portugal in a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup, with support from FIFA President Gianno Infantini.

The plan had since fell through, however. In 2018, Morocco announced that it would be starting another bid to host the tournament in 2030, with later reports adding that the bid could be a joint one with Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Leaked WhatsApp messages show Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez talking with Luis Rubiales, President of the Spanish Football Association, and expressing his support for the joint bid.

“Both you and Infantino proposed the idea to me that I praised,” Sanchez allegedly says in the messages.

FIFA declined to comment on the report, on grounds that it is based on private leaked conversations, but said its bid process remains “fair and transparent,” among transparency questions raised by Infantino’s involvement in the bid.

The report, published by El Confidencial, says that Sanchez also approached King Mohammed VI in 2018 about Morocco joining Spain and Portugal’s bid.

In the leaked exchange, Rubiales cites reasons that would eventually lead to the plan floundering, among which were hesitation from Portugal, and a want for “lack of movements” ahead of UEFA elections.

The bid is now expected to only include Spain and Portugal, as originally envisioned.

The other potential bid for the 2030 World Cup is a joint bid from South America, envisioned to be hosted in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, who also hosted the first ever World Cup.

The leaks are part of a larger series of reports about Rubiales, which have led Spanish anti-corruption authorities to open an investigation against him.

Morocco previously lost the 2026 bid to the joint campaign from the CONCACAF countries — Mexico, the USA, and Canada.

The bid was Morocco’s fifth attempt to host the tournament, following other efforts in 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2010.