Mayor of Madrid warns of ‘consequences’ if 2030 World Cup final is not held in Spanish capital

Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida says he is not optimistic that the 2030 FIFA World Cup final will be played in the Spanish capital (Mundo Deportivo).

Almeida said Morocco is making a clear political and institutional effort to win the right to host the final and questioned whether Spain’s government is showing the same level of commitment to Madrid’s bid.

He claims there has been no contact with the national government over the issue.

The mayor believes Madrid should be the natural choice for the showpiece match because Spain and Portugal initially led the bid to host the 2030 World Cup before Morocco joined the project. 

Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina are also part of the plans and are set to host three matches.

Almeida stopped short of calling for Spain to reconsider playing in the World Cup if Madrid misses out but made it clear that there would be consequences.

The showpiece was expected to be held at Real Madrid’s Bernabeu Stadium before Barcelona’s newly redeveloped Spotify Camp Nou became an option.

However, it could be held at the Grand Stade Hassan II in Morocco. The stadium is currently under construction in Benslimane.

FIFA president Florentino Perez recently offered Morocco the chance to host the final in exchange for the federation’s support at the next election.

However, the Mayor of Madrid has now warned that there would be serious consequences if that happened.

“I am not optimistic,” Almeida said. “I believe that Morocco, which wants to host the final and this is a legitimate right, is moving on both the political and institutional levels to achieve this.

“But I have no evidence that the Spanish government is acting in this way. I have no reason to believe that the Spanish government will make every effort to have Madrid host the World Cup.”