What to know about the 2030 World Cup: The 100th anniversary
Following Spain's thrilling extra time victory over Argentina in the 2026 World Cup on Sunday, all eyes are turned to the next global tournament, set for 2030.
The 2030 FIFA World Cup, the 24th tournament, will be spread across three continents and have three host nations, while three other nations will host one game for the centennial celebration of the World Cup.
Spain, Portugal, and Morocco will be the official host nations of the next World Cup as the tournament heads to the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa.
In addition to the host nations, three games will be played in Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina, with the South American nations hosting one game each -- dubbed "centenary celebration matches" -- in honor of the 100-year anniversary of the first World Cup, which took place in Uruguay in 1930.
According to FIFA's website, Argentina was selected for a centenary celebration game "in recognition of Argentina's role as finalist and runner-up of the 1930 edition," and Paraguay was selected "in recognition of [its] role as the home of CONMEBOL, the first and only [soccer] confederation in existence at the time of the 1930 edition."
In order to accommodate the unique multi-continent layout of the next World Cup, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay will host their respective centenary celebration matches on June 8 and 9, 2030.
The tournament's opening ceremony and the rest of the matches will kick off just days later, starting on June 13 and 14, 2030.
The 2030 FIFA World Cup final match is slated for Sunday, July 21, 2030.
All six countries hosting matches -- Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina -- will automatically qualify for the tournament.
Soccer fans itching for more global tournament action won't need to wait until 2030 to enjoy the game: The 2027 Women's World Cup is set to kick off in Brazil next summer.
