With the 2022 World Cup in Qatar on the verge of reaching its conclusion, attention will soon be shifting to the next instalment of the competition.
England exited the tournament at the quarter-final stage after being beaten by France. Harry Kane's penalty miss proved costly, with the striker having earlier brought his side level from the spot after Aurelien Tchouameni's opener, only for Olivier Giroud to head the defending champions into the semi-finals.
Now attention will be looking ahead to the next instalment of the World Cup in 2026. Of course, there is also the European Championships in 2024, which is being held in Germany.
But the next World Cup will see England looking to finally achieve a dream that has captured the imagination of supporters for what will be 60 years by the time it arrives. And this time it will see an expanded version of the tournament, with 48 teams taking part instead of the traditional 32 nations.
But, after Qatar, who has been given the honour of hosting the next World Cup and which countries are in contention to host the competition in 2030?
The 60 matches of the 2026 World Cup will be shared across America, Mexico and Canada with 48 teams taking part for the first time ever. The tournament will be hosted across 16 different cities.
America will have every match from the quarter-finals onwards while Canada and Mexico will both host 10 games each across the group stages and early knockout stages. The USA were able to beat a bid by Morocco for the competition.
Meanwhile, the 2030 edition of the World Cup is yet to officially have a host nation. Several countries have issued bids, but a winner has not been announced.
Spain, Portugal and Ukraine have joined forces to launch a bid alongside Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Greece are expected to launch a bid together, too, with Morocco also interested in being the host nation.
The decision surrounding the host for the 2030 host will be decided at the FIFA Congress in 2024, where the 211 member associates will place their votes on which group is best.
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