Morocco, Portugal Hail 2030 World Cup Bid as Bridge Between Africa and Europe

Rabat – Portugal and Morocco welcomed Friday at the High-Level Meeting in Lisbon their joint bid with Spain to host the 2030 World Cup, stating that the bid will bring Africa and Europe closer.

The bid “constitutes a precedent in the history of soccer, uniting for the first time countries from two continents” and allowing “a cultural and humanistic rapprochement,” said the Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch, at the end of this meeting to strengthen bilateral relations.

Meanwhile, the Moroccan and Portuguese governments said in a joint statement: “The joint bid will be the junction between Africa and Europe, between the north and south of the Mediterranean and between the African, Arab, and Euro-Mediterranean worlds.”

The joint Spain-Portugal-Morocco bid to host the World Cup has received a massive boost in recent months, with the presidents of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) expressing their support for the bid.

In expressing his support for the transcontinental bid, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin cited Morocco’s proximity to Spain and Portugal.

Morocco announced its decision to join the joint bid on March 14, and the bid has since been described as “unprecedented in football history.”

In the same month, Spain’s Royal Spanish Football Federation President, Luis Rubiales, also praised the joint bid saying that it is “impeccably prepared.”

This is Morocco’s sixth attempt to host the World Cup, with the country having submitted a bid every time since 1994.

Most recently, Morocco lost its bid to host the 2026 World Cup to the joint bid of the US, Mexico, and Canada in 2018.

But the joint bid with Portugal and Spain is expected to significantly improve Morocco’s chances of finally hosting the prestigious tournament, observers have suggested, arguing that a joint bid mitigates critics’ concerns about logistics and hosting capabilities associated with hosting multiple games and the influx of tourists.