MADRID, 6 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Spain will host the 2030 World Cup, along with Portugal and Morocco, so the final race is now open to choose the stadiums that will host the tournament that will return to Spanish soil 48 years later, with 15 candidates. The RFEF is already working on choosing those that must comply, mainly, with the requirements set by FIFA, which requires fields of at least 40,000 spectators for the first phase; 60,000, for the semifinals; and 80,000, for the final. We x-rayed each of the 15 that are in this final cut.
-SANTIAGO BERNABEU. The Madrid fiefdom faces the final stretch of its renovation to become one of the most modern stadiums in Europe, with a retractable roof and grass that can be removed to host other events. The capacity, which is now 81,044 seats, will increase to 84,744. It would be the best placed stadium to host the final. Since its inauguration in 1947, it hosted the final of the 1964 Euro Cup and the 1982 World Cup, in addition to hosting four Champions League finals and the Libertadores final (2018).
-SPOTIFY CAMP NOU. The FC Barcelona stadium, inaugurated in 1957, has the largest capacity in Europe and the third in the world (99,354 spectators), and its current renovation will increase it to more than 104,000. The Barça fiefdom hosted the final of Barcelona’92, a semi-final and the ‘consolation’ final of EURO 1964, and another semi-final of the 1982 World Cup. At club level, it has hosted two European Cup finals.
-CÍVITAS METROPOLITAN. The Atlético stadium is the third largest in Spain with a capacity of 70,460 spectators and will also be the RFEF’s third bet for the 2030 World Cup. Its recent construction and inauguration in 2017 give it a fresh air, located in the Madrid district of San Blas-Canillejas, well organized to accommodate large numbers of fans. It hosted the 2019 Champions League final between Liverpool and Tottenham.
-LA CARTUJA. The Olympic stadium in the capital of Seville could not host a semi-final as it did not have more than 60,000 seats, with 57,613 spectators. However, it is the ‘home’ of the national team since 2021 and from 19-20 of an RFEF that has signed a collaboration agreement with the Junta de Andalucía. Built to host the 1999 World Athletics Championships, it was unable to host events until 2020 due to problems with the roof, which was repaired that same year, although it was the scene of two Davis Cup finals. It has already hosted four EURO 2020 matches.
-SAINT MAMMES. The second most modern stadium in the list of candidates will be the new San Mamés, inaugurated in 2013, with capacity for 53,331 people. As in the Metropolitan, in ‘La Catedral’ modernity and innovation reign, with a roof expanded in 2015 due to a problem with rain that affected some members. It was designated the venue for EURO 2020, but restrictions due to the pandemic prevented it from hosting any matches. It will be the venue for this season’s Women’s Champions final.
-NEW MESTALLA. The only one of the candidates who does not ‘exist’. The future new ‘home’ of Valencia is a project run aground by bureaucratic problems between the administration and the club’s ownership, obstacles that will have to be solved in time to be eligible to host 2030 World Cup matches. Thus, they would go from more than 49,000 seats from the current Mestalla to the 72,000 projected in the new stadium, whose work has been paralyzed indefinitely since 2009.
-STAGE FRONT STADIUM. The venue owned by RCD Espanyol and located in the metropolitan area of Barcelona was inaugurated in 2009 and has a capacity of 40,500 spectators. However, the club, even before the designation of Spain as host of the World Cup, was thinking about an extension these years. The previous blue and white fiefdom, Sarriá, did host matches from the 1982 World Cup, including the remembered Italy-Brazil match.
-REAL SAND. The first stadium of the 15 competing to be the venue that has less than 40,000 spectators, although its capacity is 39,313 and could reach that figure. Located in San Sebastián, municipally owned and where Real Sociedad plays, it was inaugurated in 1993 with an athletics track, which was removed during the remodeling of the venue that began in 2017 and ended in 2019.
-LA ROMAREDA.
The current capacity of Real Zaragoza’s home is almost 34,000 spectators, far from the supposed requirements of FIFA, but it is immersed in a remodeling, which until now has been problematic and has even withdrawn the club from the project. Scheduled until 2029, the capacity will increase to 42,500. It hosted three matches at the 1982 World Cup and another seven at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
-ABANCA RIAZOR. The RC Deportivo stadium was inaugurated in 1944 and its capacity for 32,490 spectators could reduce its options to host. It has hosted national team matches – the last in 2010 – although its most important international performance was in the 1982 World Cup, with three group stage matches. The reform that the La Coruña City Council intends to promote, with the goal of 45,000 spectators, seems essential to be at the World Cup event.
-ABANCA BALAÍDOS. Inaugurated in 1928, its capacity of less than 25,000 spectators complicates its options. With a stand pending construction, the organization of the 2030 World Cup could accelerate the expansion and remodeling project, which began in 2015 and in which the Provincial Council plays an important role. It has already renovated one of its stands. It hosted three duels in the 1982 World Cup.
-THE ROSE GARDEN. It has a capacity of more than 30,000 seats and was founded in 1941. It underwent a small remodeling in 2021, when Málaga played in the Champions League, while due to the organization of the 2030 World Cup, its capacity could grow to exceed 40,000 spectators with a project promoted by the public administrations that own the premises. It already hosted the 1982 World Cup, hosting three matches.
-EL MOLINÓN-ENRIQUE CASTRO QUINI. Its historical power, when it was inaugurated in 1908, could be key to being chosen as the venue for the 2030 World Cup. It hosted the 1982 World Cup in three group stage matches, raising the capacity to 45,000 spectators – normally it is 30,000 – with superimposed stands. Sporting de Gijón is working on a new project for the World Cup event, with the support of the Principality and the City Council.
-ENRIQUE ROCA OF MURCIA. The Real Murcia stadium, built in 2006 and the former Nueva Condomina, has 31,179 seats, although the regional government has already reported that if Spain’s candidacy was chosen, the upper ring could be raised with a new stand to increase the capacity to the most of 45.00 spectators.
– GRAN CANARIA STADIUM. The island fiefdom was inaugurated in 2003 with a multipurpose character and an athletics track that was removed with a renovation completed, in part, in 2016. It currently has a capacity of 32,400 spectators, so the renovation project presented this year , with that goal of 40,000 attendees.
-PORTUGAL AND MOROCCO. In Portugal, the best-placed stadiums are the Lisbon stadiums of A Luz (65,000 spectators) and José Alvalade (50,095) and O Dragao (50,033) in Porto, all of them already hosting EURO 2004. While in Morocco it would present six venues in the cities of Casablanca, Rabat, Tangier, Marrakech, Agadir and Fez, with the project of the Grand Stadium of Casablanca, with a capacity of 93,000 people as the ‘jewel’ of the African proposal and with which they want to dream of the final.