October 4 – Ukraine wants to help organise the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal.
The Times reports that the Ukrainians want to host one of the groups in the tournament under a plan that is understood to have been sanctioned by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky and the governments of Spain and Portugal. The bidders will confirm the news on Wednesday at a news conference.
Ukrainian football has been in the spotlight since the Russian invasion, with its national team coming agonisingly close to qualifying for the World Cup and the domestic league restarting in the war-ravaged country.
The move comes to counter a potential tri-nation bid by Saudi Arabia, Greece and Egypt, a proposal that will bring problems of its own calendar-wise. None of the 2030 bids, with South America hoping to stage the tournament across four countries, have much regard for the environment either.
FIFA picked Qatar as hosts for this year’s global finals and moves to North America in 2026 when Canada, the United States and Mexico will host the greatest show on earth as the competition moves from a 32-team finals to 48.
As a consequence, European governing body UEFA will be keen for the World Cup to return to the Old Continent in 2030.
Russia was the last UEFA member to stage the competition in 2018 but has since been banned from competition because of its invasion of Ukraine. Germany hosted the 2006 edition before South Africa hosted the first World Cup on African soil and Brazil staged its second World Cup in 2014.
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