As of today, the venue for the 2030 World Cup final, which will be played in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, is still unknown. The Spotify Camp Nou, the Santiago Bernabéu and the Hassan II Stadium in Casablanca would be the main candidates to host the match, but David Escudé, Councillor for Sports at Barcelona City Council, assured in an interview with the programme 'Tot Costa' that the Merengue stronghold has no chance of hosting the match.
Speaking to the programme 'Catalunya Ràdio', Escudé said that "Camp Nou's rival to host the 2030 World Cup final is not the Bernabéu, but the new stadium being built in Casablanca".
The reason why the Bernabéu would have 'fallen out' of the fight
The reason behind this would be that the Madrid stadium would not meet the capacity requirements demanded by FIFA to host the final of a World Cup. "As of today, according to FIFA's requirements, the Bernabéu cannot host a World Cup final, but the future Hassan II stadium in Morocco can," said Escudé.
This regulation requires that a World Cup final must be played in a stadium with a capacity for 80,000 net spectators, not including the press and FIFA commitments. Currently, the Bernabéu has a capacity of 85,000 in total, which does not reach the 80,000 for the public, as required by FIFA according to Escudé, while the future Spotify Camp Nou will have 105,000 when it is finished.
The Spotify Camp Nou has been included by FIFA in the list of stadiums that will host World Cup matches in Spain, along with the Bernabéu, the Metropolitano, Riazor, the RCDE Stadium, San Mamés, Estadio Gran Canaria, la Rosaleda, Anoeta, Nuevo Romareda and la Cartuja. However, Barça is 'bidding' to host the final and the objective seems to be closer than ever.