UEFA has joined CAF in backing Morocco’s intercontinental 2030 FIFA Men’s World Cup bid with Spain and Portugal.
CAF on Wednesday gave a thumbs up to the bid, citing it was an ‘African bid’. At the same time, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin also gave public support to Morocco joining the European candidacy.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Ceferin said at a news conference in Lisbon after the UEFA Congress. “It makes sense to join with Morocco. Morocco is very, very close to Spain and to Portugal.”
When announcing their intentions to join with two European nations, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI said the move was “unprecedented in football history”.
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He believes it would “bring together Africa and Europe, the northern and southern Mediterranean, and the African, Arab and Euro-Mediterranean worlds.”
“It will also bring out the best in all of us —a combination of genius, creativity, experience and means,” HM Mohammed VI said in February 2023.
CAF Statement
In a statement on Thursday, CAF president Patrice Motsepe said that the continental football body would back the unique bid to unite two continents.
“The unanimous decision that was taken by the CAF Executive Committee to support Morocco’s bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2030 means that the bid of Morocco is now the bid of the African Continent. We are now focusing on ensuring that Africa once more hosts the FIFA World Cup and are committed to working together with all Football National Associations and Confederations to make this happen,” Motsepe said.
Morocco would only become the second African country after South Africa to stage the Men’s Football World Cup.
They have had six of their previous bids fail and look poised to win the rights to host the global soccer showpiece finally.
Ironically, the North African country – enjoying newfound status in football – eliminated Spain and Portugal during their impressive run to the 2022 World Cup semifinals in Qatar.
Portugal’s Prime Minister is on record as praising the multi-continent bid.
“It is the best powerful message we can send to the world, to Europe, to Africa, that through football together we can move forward,” Prime Minister António Costa said in translated comments to an audience that included Motsepe and FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Europe and Africa combine for a total of 109 among the 211 FIFA member federations, though bidding countries cannot vote in a contest expected in September