The venues for both the 2022 and 2026 World Cups have been determined, but where the 2030 World Cup will be held is still unknown. According to the current schedule, countries or consortiums interested in bidding for the 2030 World Cup (if a multinational joint bid) need to complete the formal application by the end of March this year, while the determination and final approval of the right to host will be carried out in 2024 and 2026 respectively. This means that the deadline for bidding for the 2030 World Cup is just around the corner.
There are not a few countries that have publicly expressed interest in the World Cup eight years later, with a total of more than 10, and most of them plan to compete for the right to host in the form of a joint bid. The main reason why countries are inclined to jointly bid is that the world cup participation will be expanded to 48 teams from 2026, so the cost pressure of independent hosting is too great.
In February this year, UEFA confirmed that Spain and Portugal will jointly bid for the 2030 World Cup, while the United Kingdom and Ireland gave up and bid for euro 2028 instead. The United Kingdom (including England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) originally planned to bid for the 2030 World Cup together with the Irish Football Association, but perhaps considering the low probability of success, it chose the European Championship instead. The reason for the low success rate is that the "Southern Cone Combination", composed of Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and Chile, is a popular venue for the World Cup. The World Cup originated in 1930, and the first tournament was held in Uruguay. Both Uruguay itself, as well as many footballers and fans, are happy to see the World Cup return to its birthplace on its 100th birthday. It makes sense to let the "Centennial World Cup" go home.
Morocco and the "Balkan combination" of Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia are also interested in the 2030 World Cup. After the failure to hit the 2026 World Cup, Morocco said it would continue to work hard to bid for the 2030 World Cup. Despite its average level of football, Morocco seems to be obsessed with the right to host the World Cup, and has bid for it 5 times, but unfortunately none of them have succeeded. The Moroccan national team is currently in the final stages of the World Preliminary Round in Africa and is expected to advance to the final round of the World Cup in Qatar. During the Varna Summit in November 2018, the leaders of Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia announced plans to jointly bid for the 2030 World Cup.
The mainland is not eligible for the 2030 World Cup. In October 2019, FIFA held a board of directors, and in the post-meeting interview session, FIFA President Infantino made it clear that after hosting a World Cup on the same continent, it would be necessary to hold at least two more World Cups. Qatar, the host of the 2022 World Cup, belongs to Asia, so the 2026 and 2030 World Cups can no longer go to Asia, but the 2034 World Cup can. That is to say, if the mainland wants to host the World Cup, it will not be able to wait until at least 2034.
With the British Isles (UK, Ireland) abandoning, it is not known which of the Iberian duo (Spain, Portugal), the Southern Cone (Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Chile), the Balkan duo (Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia) and Morocco will host the 2030 World Cup. In addition, I don't know if there may be an accidental dark horse?