Morocco joins the Iberian candidacy to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup. The Alauite monarch Mohammed VI himself announced the inclusion of Spain and Portugal in the candidacy during the act of the African Football Federation.

“In this spirit, I wish to announce before your assembly that the Kingdom of Morocco has decided, together with Spain and Portugal, to submit a joint candidature to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup,” the king said in a message sent by Minister Moroccan athlete Chakib Benmmoussa during a ceremony in Rwanda for the African Football Federation.

The entry of Morocco into the candidacy implies the withdrawal of Ukraine, which in October 2022 announced its accession to the Entente formed by Spain and Portugal, in a commitment supported by the President of Ukraine. Vladimir Zelensky and that it provided for certain group stage matches to be played on Ukrainian soil.

According to the Alauite monarch, this is an “unprecedented offer in the history of football”, marked by the fantastic performance of the Moroccan team at the World Cup in Qatar last year, where Morocco reached the quarter-finals, defeating Spain. and Portugal. In 1988, the country hosted the African Cup of Nations.

Since then, the Moroccan regime has tried to use sporting successes to endure the unfavorable situation of the long absence of the king; a severe economic crisis that forced it to sign loans with international organizations; and a campaign of repression against any manifestation of dissent. However, Rabat avoids specifying the composition of the team, which consists of the children of economic exiles who were born or raised outside the country.

“Unprecedented in the history of football, this common candidacy will be an alliance between Africa and Europe, between the north and south of the Mediterranean, and between the African, Arab and Euro-Mediterranean worlds,” the monarch stressed. “It will also be a commitment to bring together the best of both sides and demonstrate the union of genius, creativity, experience and means,” he concluded, he predicted.

Morocco’s bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup is not new. This was announced by the Moroccan federation in 2018 with the option to join the Spanish-Portuguese or Tunisia and Algeria, two neighboring countries with which it still has an open diplomatic crisis. Algeria, a historical nemesis, was joined last summer by Tunisia, which received Frente POLISARIO leader Brahim Ghali and approached Algeria in search of gas.

As of now, the joint candidacy of Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay has officially joined the race to host the 2030 World Cup. Another tripartite group formed by Greece, Egypt and Saudi Arabia expressed its intention after the Greek country backed out of another joint commitment with Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria. The application deadline is next June, with a final decision to be announced in the third quarter of 2024.