The FIFA World Cup is biggest sporting spectacle on earth and has been held 22 times since its inception in 1930.
Uruguay was the first host nation and since, 17 countries have hosted soccer's most prestigious competition. What began as a tournament of 16 nations will now become a 46 team competition come the 2026 World Cup.
France, Italy, Germany and Mexico have all hosted the World Cup twice. In 2026, U.S.A., Canada and Mexico will co-host the World Cup, meaning the U.S.A. will join this group and Mexico will become the first country ever to host the tournament three times. Europe is the continent that's hosted the most World Cup's with 11 of the 22 editions taking place in European soil.
Every continent has hosted the World Cup at least once, displaying the global nature of the sport.
With the official announcement of the 2030 and 2034 World Cup host nations, we look back on every country that's hosted the tournament in the past.
Every Country to Host the FIFA World Cup
Men's World Cup
- Uruguay (1930)
- Italy (1934, 1990)
- France (1938, 1998)
- Brazil (1950, 2014)
- Switzerland (1954)
- Sweden (1958)
- Chile (1962)
- England (1966)
- Mexico (1970, 1986)
- Germany (1974, 2006)
- Argentina (1978)
- Spain (1982)
- United States (1994)
- Japan and South Korea (2002)
- South Africa (2010)
- Russia (2018)
- Qatar (2022)
After the 2026 edition, the 2030 World Cup will take place across three continents. Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay will all co-host the competition. After that, 2034 will take place in Saudi Arabia as the country continues to grow its profile in the sport with names like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez and more to the Saudi Pro League.
Women's World Cup
- China (1991, 2007)
- Sweden (1995)
- United States (1999, 2003)
- Germany (2011)
- Canada (2015)
- France (2019)
- Australia and New Zealand (2023)
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Every Country to Host the FIFA World Cup.
