The Egypt–Greece–Saudi Arabia 2030 FIFA World Cup bid is a joint bid to host the

2030 FIFA World Cup The 2030 FIFA World Cup will be the 24th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The event will mark the centennial of the first World Cup. Host ...

by Egypt, Greece, and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is expected to lead the effort. If successful, it would be the first FIFA World Cup hosted in countries that are part of three different football federations (

AFC AFC may stand for: Organizations * Action for Children, a UK children's charity * AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits * Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution * A ...

, CAF and UEFA) on three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe.

Background

In recent years, the three nations have developed strong political, economic, and military ties. The bid could be the culmination of the alliance between the three nations, and is expected to be officially announced a few weeks before the start of the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

in Qatar. The three countries share extensive maritime borders: Egypt with Greece and Egypt with Saudi Arabia.

Potential venues

For the

2026 FIFA World Cup The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will be jointly hosted by 16 cities in three No ...

, it has been confirmed that stadiums must have a capacity of at least 40,000 for group round, second round, and quarter final matches, 60,000 for the semi-finals, and at least 80,000 for the Opening Match and Final. The rules for 2030 have not been announced.

Egypt

Greece

Saudi Arabia

Other potential venues

Damanhour Stadium Damanhour International Stadium was a proposed Association football, football stadium in Damanhour, Egypt that if built, would have become home to Ala'ab Damanhour SC, Ala'ab Damanhour Sporting Club, replacing their current home ground Ala'ab Dam ...

(Damanhour) - 60 000 *

30 June Stadium The 30 June Stadium is a stadium used mostly for football matches and also sometimes for athletics located in Cairo. It was built by the Egyptian Air Defense Forces. The stadium is the main venue of the Air Defense Sport Village. The stadium has ...

(Cairo) - 30 000 * Al Salam Stadium (Cairo) - 30 000 * Ismailia Stadium (Ismailia) - 30 000 *

Suez Stadium The Suez Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Suez, Egypt. It is used mostly for football (soccer), football and serves as the home stadium of Suez Cement SC, Asmant El-Suweis and Petrojet SC. The stadium has a capacity of 27,000 peop ...

(Suez) - 27 000 *

Alexandria Stadium Alexandria Stadium ( ar, إستاد الأسكندرية) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Moharram Bey district of Alexandria, Egypt. It was built in 1929 by King Fouad I. Alexandria stadium now holds over 20,000 people after the remodeling an ...

(Alexandria) - 20 000 *

Agia Sophia Stadium The Agia Sophia Stadium (), also known by its commercial name OPAP Arena, is the home stadium of AEK Athens FC. With an all-seater capacity of 32,500, it is the largest football-only stadium and the second largest football stadium overall in G ...

(Athens) - 32 500 * Karaiskakis Stadium (Piraeus) - 32 115 * Kaftanzoglio Stadium (Thessaloniki) - 27 770 * Pankritio Stadium (Herakleion) - 26 240 * Pampeloponnisiako Stadium (Patras) - 23 588 * Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium (Thessaloniki) - 22 800 * Panthessaliko Stadium (Volos) - 22 700

Concerns

Much like the

, if this bid is selected, the tournament would most likely be moved to the winter due to the high summer temperatures of the location. There is also concern about Saudi Arabia using the tournament as part of a larger football sportswashing campaign, which has already seen the PIF take over

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

, their tourism board sponsoring the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is scheduled to be the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the quadrennial international women's football championship contested by the women's national association football teams organised ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and New Zealand, their hosting of the

2023 FIFA Club World Cup The 2023 FIFA Club World Cup will be the 20th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament between the winners of the six continental confederations, as well as the host nation's league champions. T ...

, and Cristiano Ronaldo being signed to Al Nassr FC in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia is also a member of the AFC, whose rotation would prevent member countries from hosting World Cup until 2034. The Greek Prime Minister

Kyriakos Mitsotakis Kyriakos Mitsotakis ( el, Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης, ; born 4 March 1968) is a Greek politician serving as the prime minister of Greece since 8 July 2019. A member of the New Democracy (Greece), New Democracy, he has been its presi ...

also came under fire from the opposition

Syriza The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...

in 2023 after a rumored deal involving Saudi Arabia building new stadiums in both Greece and Egypt was revealed by Politico. There is also concern in Greece about paying for mega events and large sports infrastructure, as many still remember the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, which left many abandoned venues and was partially blamed for the country's debt crisis.https://www.politico.eu/article/greece-saudi-arabia-mitsotakis-under-fire-over-secret-saudi-world-cup-offer/

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:bid 2030 FIFA World Cup bids Egypt at the FIFA World Cup Greece at the FIFA World Cup Saudi Arabia at the FIFA World Cup