By Samindra Kunti
January 8 – South American football powerhouses Argentina and Uruguay will jointly bid to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup. State presidents Mauricio Macri (Argentina) and Tabare Vazquez (Uruguay) made the announcement yesterday at a press conference. Uruguay hosted the inaugural edition of the tournament in 1930.
South America has a long and intricate love story with the World Cup. The 1930 World Cup was a tale of long boat trips and exhausted European participants. Hosts Uruguay had won the amateur Olympic football tournaments at both the 1924 Paris Olympic Games and the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games and affirmed their status as first kings of the global game with a 4-2 victory in the final against neighbors Argentina.
After World War II Brazil hosted the 1950 World Cup. Haitian-born Joe Gaetjens embarrassed England in the first round and Uruguay shocked Brazil at the Maracana to lift the coveted Jules Rimet trophy a second time. In 1962 FIFA’s biggest party returned to Chile, but aggressive and brutal play cast a shadow over the tournament. The indomitable Garrincha propelled Brazil to World Cup victory.
Then Argentina welcomed the football world in 1978 under the cloud of military rule. Debutants Tunisia recorded a first victory for Africa, 3-1 against Mexico; Scotland were the British Isles only representatives and Mario Kempes was instrumental in the final to cause Holland heartbreak yet again.
The 2014 Brazil World Cup rekindled the Latino spirit: a goal-filled roller coaster ride in the group stages, blurred by emotions and high-quality football; safety-first football in the knockout stages. Germany showcased the best of modern football by demolishing Brazil 7-1 in the semi-finals. They edged Argentina with a late Mario Gotze strike to win the World Cup, a fair accolade after Jochim Löw’s decade-long renovation of German football.
The idea of another month-long football festival on South American soil is both appealing and problematic. The last World Cup was neither a copy of the drab and conservative South Africa edition nor the protracted procession of Germany 2006. For FIFA, Brazil 2014 was the most profitable edition to date.
The 2030 event would mark the 100-year anniversary of the first World Cup, hosted by Uruguay in 1930. “We have decided that our best opportunity is to jointly nominate ourselves as candidates,” said Argentina FA President Mauricio Macri, alongside his Uruguayan counterpart Tabare Vazquez.
The celebration of the centennial World Cup partly in Uruguay is praiseworthy, but FIFA in general is averse to joint-bids for the World Cup after the 2002 Japan/South Korea World Cup turned out to be a political minefield and a logistical nightmare. The USA and China have also expressed interest in hosting future Word Cups, which might further complicate Uruguay and Argentina’s chances.
Brazil won the right to host the 2014 World Cup as part of FIFA’s now abandoned continental rotation policy.
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