Uruguay–Argentina–Chile–Paraguay 2030 FIFA World Cup bid

The project was originally the idea of Abel Fialko,[9] a Uruguayan who lives in Israel.

Athens, the capital of Greece, the home of the ancient and first modern 1896 Summer Olympics, was considered by many observers during the 1996 bidding period as "the natural choice" for the Centennial Olympic Games of 1996. However, in the end, the US city of Atlanta was selected to host the Centennial Olympics. In 1997, Athens won the right to host the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Because of that incident, Fialko had a real concern that Uruguay's "historical rights" to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup (because Uruguay hosted the first edition of that tournament) would not be enough, and that Uruguay would end up having the same fate as Athens' failure to host the 1996 Olympics.[9]

Fialko then launched a website[10] in 1997 and began using the Internet to gather more and more people to his cause.[11]

On 4 October 2005, during his visit to Uruguay to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the inaugural FIFA World Cup, FIFA President Sepp Blatter had a meeting with the Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez. In that meeting Vázquez formally suggested that Uruguay could co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup with another Mercosur nation to commemorate the centenary of Uruguay 1930.

After the meeting, Blatter stated, "During our meeting, the President told me of his dream of seeing this tournament hosted in the region. I told him that today's dream could be tomorrow's vision, which in turn could become a proper initiative and finally a project. At present, the South American Football Confederation is scheduled to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and all (national) associations will be able to present their candidature when we begin the selection process at the end of 2006. Dr Nicholas Leoz tells me that with the system of rotation it will be the turn of South America in 2030. That is the situation as it currently stands.".[12]

A graphical representation of the shirts worn by Luis Suárez and Lionel Messi to promote the bid

The bidding period has not started, so an official bid is not possible at this stage. A joint bid intention was announced by the Argentine Football Association and the Uruguayan Football Association on 29 July 2017.[13] Before Uruguay and Argentina played out a goalless draw in Montevideo, Uruguay player Luis Suárez and Argentine captain Lionel Messi – who happened to be teammates at FC Barcelona – promoted the bid with commemorative shirts.[14]

On 31 August 2017, it was suggested Paraguay would join as a third host.[15] CONMEBOL, the South American confederation, confirmed the joint three-way bid in September 2017.[16] The inclusion of Paraguay as a host had previously been opposed by key Uruguayan Football Association official Wilmar Valdéz and President Tabaré Vázquez.[17][18]

On 14 February 2019, Chilean president Sebastián Piñera announced on his Twitter account that Chile will join the CONMEBOL bid and plans to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup. A formal announcement between all four presidents is expected but yet to be confirmed.[19]

The bidding process is yet to begin.

Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay have all hosted some FIFA events.

•  Argentina
  • 1978 FIFA World Cup
  • 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship
•  Uruguay
  • 1930 FIFA World Cup
  • 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
•  Paraguay
  • 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
•  Chile
  • 1962 FIFA World Cup
  • 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship
  • 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
  • 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup

• Claudio Tapia – president of the Argentine Football Association
• Robert Harrison – president of the Paraguayan Football Association
• Wilmar Valdez – president of the Uruguayan Football Association
• Sebastián Moreno – president of the Asociacion Nacional de Futbol Profesional

On 20 March 2019, Argentina President Mauricio Macri, Chile President Sebastian Pinera, Paraguay President Mario Abdo and Uruguay President Tabare Vazquez accepted to create a bid committee with a representative from each country to coordinate with CONMEBOL. The first meeting will be in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 8 April 2019.[20]

For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, it has been confirmed that stadiums must have a capacity of at least 40,000 for group round matches and second round matches, 40,000 for quarter final and 60,000 for the semi-finals and at least 80,000 for the Opening Match and Final; none of the countries concerned have stadiums with such a capacity for the opening and final matches as of yet and the rules for 2030 have not been announced.[21]

There are no specific details of the venues that will be proposed by the Uruguay-Argentina, Uruguay-Argentina-Paraguay or Uruguay-Argentina-Paraguay-Chile bid, but according to the statements, some information can be deduced. According to information that made public after Paraguay aspire to be included in the event, it was unofficially known that Argentina would have eight venues, that Uruguay would have three stadiums and that Paraguay would add two scenarios to the proposal.[22]

denotes stadium used for previous men's World Cup tournaments (Argentina, Chile and Uruguay only)

Argentina

In 2012, after a meeting between executives from Uruguay and Argentina, it was confirmed that the Estadio Ciudad de La Plata and the Estadio Centenario would be two of the main venues of the project.[23]

Also a new stadium in Santiago del Estero, the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades will be built for the candidature.[24][25][26][27]

In October 2017, an official councilor from Mar del Plata proposed to start a process so that the city could be declared as an Argentine sub-venue for the event.[28] Also San Juan was also proposed as a venue of the World Cup, planning to reform the Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario.[29]

Proposed cities in Argentina		Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires Córdoba La Plata Mendoza Resistencia Rosario Salta San Juan San Miguel de Tucumán San Salvador de Jujuy Santa Fe Mar del Plata Santiago del Estero		Estadio Monumental Antonio V. Liberti	Estadio José Amalfitani
		Capacity: 61,688	Capacity: 49,540
		La Bombonera	Estadio Tomás Adolfo Ducó
		Capacity: 49,000	Capacity: 48,314
		Estadio Pedro Bidegain	Estadio Nueva España
		Capacity: 43,494	Capacity: 32,500
		Estadio Nueva Chicago	Estadio Diego Armando Maradona
		Capacity: 25,000	Capacity: 26,000
		Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverry
		Capacity: 8,300
Córdoba		Avellaneda
Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes	Estadio Presidente Perón	Estadio Presidente Juan Domingo Perón	Estadio Libertadores de América
Capacity: 57,000	Capacity: 26,535	Capacity: 55,389	Capacity: 53,000
La Plata		Santa Fe
Estadio Ciudad de La Plata	Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi	Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López	Estadio 15 de Abril
Capacity: 53,000	Capacity: 23,000	Capacity: 47,000	Capacity: 26,000
Banfield	Lanús	Mendoza	Mar del Plata
Estadio Florencio Sola	Estadio Ciudad de Lanús	Estadio Malvinas Argentinas	Estadio José María Minella
Capacity: 34,901	Capacity: 47,027	Capacity: 40,268	Capacity: 35,354
Resistencia	Rosario		San Juan
Estadio Centenario	Estadio Marcelo Bielsa	Estadio Gigante de Arroyito	Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario
Capacity: 25,000	Capacity: 50,000	Capacity: 48,500	Capacity: 25,286
Lomas de Zamora	Morón	Quilmes	Santiago del Estero
Estadio Eduardo Gallardón	Nuevo Francisco Urbano	Estadio Meiszner	Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades
Capacity: 36,542	Capacity: 32,000	Capacity: 30,200	Capacity: 28,000
San Miguel de Tucuman		Vicente López	Victoria
Estadio Monumental José Fierro	La Ciudadela	Estadio Ciudad de Vicente López	Estadio José Dellagiovanna
Capacity: 32,700	Capacity: 28,000	Capacity: 28,530	Capacity: 26,282

Chile

Chile has currently only two stadiums of over 40,000 seats, both located in its capital Santiago (Nacional and Monumental). Other stadiums could require major investments as many other stadiums in other co-bid nations.

In March 2019, President Piñera announced that Chile will propose five cities for hosting the tournament: Santiago, Concepción, Antofagasta and Valparaíso, with a fifth city between Coquimbo and Temuco yet to be decided.[30] It is assumed that every stadia must be renewed in order to comply with the required criteria.

Santiago		Proposed cities in Chile
Estadio Nacional	Estadio Monumental David Arellano	Antofagasta Concepción Coquimbo Santiago Temuco Valparaíso
Capacity: 48,745[31]	Capacity: 47,347[32]
Antofagasta	Coquimbo
Estadio Regional de Antofagasta	Estadio Sánchez Rumoroso
Capacity: 21,170[31]	Capacity: 18,750
Temuco	Valparaíso
Estadio Municipal Germán Becker	Estadio Elías Figueroa
Capacity: 18,413[31]	Capacity: 21,113[31]
Concepción
Estadio Municipal de Concepción
Capacity: 30,448[31]

Paraguay

The fact of planning a joint bid between Uruguay and Argentina for the 2030 World Cup, corresponds to the fear of the Uruguayans of not being able to host a world tournament due to its scarce sports infrastructure. For this reason, the Paraguayan intention is to provide two venues and argue their inclusion in order to ensure the success of the candidacy.

In this case, about possible Paraguayan stadiums, both scenarios will correspond to the Asunción sub-sector, and it is speculated that they will be the Defensores del Chaco Stadium and the recently reopened General Pablo Rojas Stadium, popularly known as La Nueva Olla.[22] Like the Uruguayan case with Montevideo, Paraguay must receive the authorization of FIFA for that the sub-office in Asunción can provide two stadiums for the candidature.

In turn, the second Paraguayan headquarters would be in Ciudad del Este or Encarnación.[33] The Antonio Aranda Stadium (Ciudad del Este) is could be the second Paraguayan headquarters, following a project by the club 3 de Frebrero to modernize the stadium and have a capacity of 50.000 spectators, being the biggest stadium in Paraguay.[34]

Asuncion
Estadio General Pablo Rojas	Estadio Defensores del Chaco	Estadio Manuel Ferreira
Capacity: 45,000	Capacity: 42,354	Capacity: 22,000
Ciudad del Este	Luque	Pedro Juan Caballero
Estadio Antonio Oddone Sarubbi	Estadio Feliciano Cáceres	Estadio Río Parapití
Capacity: 28,000	Capacity: 24,000	Capacity: 22,000
Proposed cities in Paraguay
Asuncion Ciudad del Este Luque Pedro Juan Caballero

Uruguay

The Estadio Centenario would be one of the Uruguayan stadiums, and a candidate to host the final match. According to the president of the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF), Wilmar Valdez, Uruguay will have only two cities hosting matches, which will be Montevideo and Maldonado.

A likely candidate for a host stadium would be the Estadio Centenario, where the final of the first world championship was played in 1930 and which is Uruguay's largest stadium. With respect to the Maldonado sub-station, it would be the only stadium in that department, Domingo Burgueño Miguel Stadium. However, the organization plans a third stadium in Uruguay, which would be another one in the Montevideo sub-center.

Only two other stadiums in Montevideo could be taken into account: the Estadio Gran Parque Central (also host the first World Cup), or the recently inaugurated Estadio Campeón del Siglo. Also since the end of 2012, National has been promoting the inclusion of Gran Parque Central as the second stadium of the Montevideo venue in 2030,[35] which it ratified again in 2017.[36][37] The argument that will be presented for FIFA to considerate the National request for a second stadium in Montevideo will be the history of the stadium as one of the first two World Cup stadiums, together with the former Pocitos Stadium.[38] According to the president of the AUF, Wilmar Valdez, the stadium of Peñarol (Estadio Campeón del Siglo) will not be taken into account due to its accessibility problems.[39]

In April 2018 it was confirmed that Uruguay would present two venues (Montevideo and one in the interior of the country) and that the Uruguayan organization would have four stadiums: Centenario, Gran Parque Central and Campeón del Siglo in Montevideo, and also a new stadium outside of the capital.[39] 300 million dollars will be invested to modernize the Estadio Centenario and another stadium will be built in the interior (probably in Punta del Este) with an investment of also 300 million dollars.[40]

Montevideo
Estadio Centenario	Estadio Campeón del Siglo	Estadio Gran Parque Central	Estadio Luis Tróccoli
Capacity: 60,235	Capacity: 40,005	Capacity: 34,000	Capacity: 25,000
Rivera	Paysandú	Maldonado
Estadio Atilio Paiva Olivera	Estadio Parque Artigas	Estadio Domingo Burgueño
Capacity: 27,135	Capacity: 23,000	Capacity: 22,000
Proposed cities in Uruguay		Proposed venues in Montevideo
Montevideo Maldonado Paysandú Rivera		Centenario Estadio CdS Gran Parque Luis Tróccoli

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• Bulgaria-Greece-Romania-Serbia 2030 FIFA World Cup bid