Election
favorite says Spain should quit as World Cup co-host if Morocco stages the
final
Alberto
Núñez Feijóo, the conservative front-runner to become Spain’s next prime
minister, said it is “fair, fitting and unquestionable” that his country hosts
the 2030 showpiece fixture.
Alberto
Núñez Feijóo and José Luis Martinez Almeida watching the 2026 World Cup final
match between Spain and Argentina in Madrid on July 19, 2026. | Paul Hanna/AFP
via Getty Images
November
6, 2026 3:31 pm CET
Spain
shouldn’t co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup if Morocco gets to stage the final,
said Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the conservative People’s Party leader and favorite
to become the next Spanish prime minister after this month’s snap election.
Speaking
on the sports TV show El Chiringuito, Feijóo said it is “fair, fitting and
unquestionable” that Spain, “a global football power,” hosts the final.
“If it
does not host it, Spain should not take part in organizing the World Cup,”
Feijóo added, before confirming, in response to a follow-up question, that he
would advocate for Spain to withdraw from co-hosting duties if Morocco was
awarded the flagship match.
Feijóo
noted that the 2030 World Cup was originally a Spanish-Portuguese bid, until
Morocco was invited at a later stage. Despite that chronology, Moroccan
officials have been pushing vigorously to stage the final, which is the world’s
most prestigious sports event.
Rafael
Louzán, Spain’s football chief, told POLITICO in June that he was confident either
Madrid or Barcelona would host the final, despite Morocco pouring vast amounts
of cash into football infrastructure.
Tensions
have flared between the two countries in recent months. Spanish political
parties this summer accused Morocco of stoking a migrant crisis in Spain’s
North African territory of Ceuta, after 80,000 people surged into the city in
late July.
A Sigma Dos poll for El Mundo following the Ceuta crisis
found that 84.4% of Spaniards opposed Spain continuing to co-host the World Cup
with Morocco.
Leftist
party Sumar, the Socialists’ junior coalition partner, said this summer
that the World Cup “cannot be shared with a country that uses desperate people
for its own geostrategic interests.”
The
left-wing party tabled a resolution in parliament that far-right Vox backed in
an unusual convergence. The text never made it to a vote because parliament was
dissolved ahead of the snap election.
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