An England or home nations bid for the 2030 World Cup is edging ever closer with confirmation from the Football Association that they are undertaking detailed research into the feasibility of hosting the tournament.
England is already a joint host of Euro 2020 with seven games being held at Wembley. But this would be the first time the country has tried to win a World Cup bid since the failed campaign for 2022, which was controversially awarded to Qatar.
Greg Clarke, the FA chairman, said: “Last month the English FA Board agreed to conduct feasibility work into the possibility of putting itself forward to be Uefa’s potential candidate to host the 2030 Fifa World Cup. This work will take place during the new season and no decision will be made until 2019.”
England could apply to host the extended 48-team tournament alone but it is understood they have committed to talks with the Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland football associations about the possibility of jointly hosting before submitting any bid.
It would almost certainly have the backing of Europe, pending other bids from the continent, with Uefa’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, praising Clarke for overhauling the “arrogant” image of English football.
Any England bid would face opposition from the joint campaign of Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay which will undoubtedly be buoyed by the fact 2030 marks 100 years since the first World Cup, held in Uruguay in 1930. It is also possible there will be an African bid, especially in light of Morocco’s defeat to the USA for the 2026 tournament.
Meanwhile, the FA has ruled out the possibility of stepping in to host the 2022 World Cup. The former FA chairman Lord Triesman said England should be considered to host in 2022 if it is found the Qatar bid team broke Fifa rules by running a secret campaign to sabotage their rivals, as was alleged in another newspaper.
But Clarke said: “Fifa has chosen Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup and they have a duty to investigate any issues around the process that are rightly thrown into question.
“Russia did a brilliant job of hosting the 2018 World Cup and we support the rotation of World Cup hosting among the Confederations. That would make the 2030 World Cup the next one a European nation might be able to host and not before. Anyone suggesting otherwise is acting disrespectfully to our global game and does not speak for the English FA.”
