Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina to jointly bid for hosting 2030 FIFA World Cup, says CONMEBOL president

Asuncion: Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina plan to submit a joint bid to host the centenary World Cup in 2030, the President of , South America’s football federation, has said. “For Conmebol, it’s priority No 1 to work toward returning the World Cup in 2030 to where it originated,” Alejandro Dominguez said on Thursday after meeting in Asuncion with Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes, reports Efe. [caption id=“attachment_3959491” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The agreement to submit a joint bid was made possible by the good relations among the Presidents of those three South American nations, Argentine President Mauricio Macri and Uruguayan head of state Tabare Vazquez, Dominguez said. He added that the three Presidents still needed to arrange a date to meet and formalise the countries’ joint candidacy. Dominguez speculated that there could be 12 venues for the World Cup matches — eight in Argentina, two in Uruguay and two in Paraguay — though he added that it was too early to say what the proposal would be. “The most important thing before talking about how and where to distribute (the venues) is to fight for our candidacy,” he said, adding that the election format had changed and a monumental task would be needed to garner votes worldwide. He said Argentina and Uruguay had already been working together on a joint candidacy before Paraguay officially partnered with its neighbours Thursday on the three-nation bid. The first World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930, a tournament in which the hosts defeated Argentina 4-2 in the final at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo. The three South American countries will likely compete against England and South Korea for the right to host what would be the 24th edition of the World Cup.