All potential World Cup host nations

[GriffinGunner]

Through various threads we've discussed the possibilities of several nations vying to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments. Some discussion has also addressed how often the event should return to Europe vs how often it could/should go elsewhere around the globe. So, I'm now curious: Which countries around the world could host a World Cup today, or likely by 2018? I'm not concerned about subtle nuances. Mexico would need some facility upgrade to host by 2014 but they would put them in place. Ditto Australia by 2018. What I'm curious about, however, is how wide the list realistically is. Could Morocco or Egypt truly pull off a bid? Could Colombia? Don't know, that's why I'm asking. So how many nations truly are credible hosts for the WC?

(For this purpose I'll suggest co-hosting should be discounted for these purposes, save for the BeNeLux bid already permitted and having unique qualities.)

1st draft...

UEFA
England
France
Germany
Italy
Spain
BeNeLux
Russia?

Door is certainly open for more UEFA nations if FIFA resolves designs on co-hosting.

Concacaf
USA
Mexico

Canada may someday have the volume of capable facilities, but only by including several modest Canadian-football venues that aren't as attractive for the WC stage. For now, the bar is simply too high, I fear.

Conmebol
Brazil
Argentina

Several nations have 4-8 suitable venues but likely lack the necessity to build and sustain more than that. I've even heard suggestions Argentina would have difficulties producing the volume of stadiums needed outside metro Buenos Aires. Nevertheless I feel that they could manage a games if permitted, and perhaps future co-hosting will enable the likes of Colombia and Peru to host in the future.

CAF
South Africa
Egypt?

I realize Egypt does not have the venues right now but they've proposed bids and built some new venues to suggest they're capable. How realistic I'm not sure, but it's safe to say they could afford the investments if needed. Didn't Morocco also bid for the WC to be held in Afirca?

AFL/Oceana
Japan
Korea
China
Australia

Japan and Korea each built enough venues to host their own WC, and while China and Australia would require additional investment they're close enough and capable of pulling the event off based on existing conditions.

- - - - -

Beyond this list I can't think of another country that will be able to host an event of anything close to the calibre we're expecting, unless some of you can show me where County X has the means and the vision. this being the case I expect the general pace of rotations among host confederations will remain the same for the foreseeable future.

Thoughts?

[Bread Bin]

BeNeLux.....totally not up for that:mad:

[code1390]

Off topic, but how many US states could host a World Cup?

[Gibraldo]

without those senseless civil wars, i think that old Yugoslavia would have a chance.

They would have had the possibility to built great arenas in

Belgrade
Zagreb
Split
Sarajevo

additional hostings cities with stadias of a size of roughly 40.000 could have been

Ljubljana
Rijeka
Nis
Novi Sad
Skoplje
Mostar
Dubrovnik

[cmedina1983]

Actually Australia have a good chance of being able to host a World Cup way before 2018.

In Sydney there's at least two quality stadiums in Stadium Australia (83,500 capacity) and the Sydney Football Stadium (45,500 capacity), to use, both of which are primarily rectangle-stadiums designed for football and rugby league - and have been used accordingly. Even the Sydney Cricket Ground, with a capacity of 44,000 people, sitting right next door to the SFS can be used.

In Melbourne there are a variety of oval-type stadiums used for other sports, but ones that can be used for football such as the Melbourne Cricket Ground (100,000 capacity), the Telstra Dome (56,300 capacity).

Other notable stadiums around the country include:

Suncorp Stadium in Queensland (52,500 capacity)
The QLD Sport And Athletic Centre (48,400 capacity)
AAMI Stadium in South Australia (51,500 capacity)
Subiaco Oval in Western Australia (43,000 capacity)

There are also a string of stadiums around the country that peak between the 35,000-45,000 mark for attendance, which would be suitable for most World Cup events. Obviously the closing and opening ceremonies would be held either in Stadium Australia or the MCG, considering the ample capacities of each ground, but for the most part a lot of the stadiums in Australia could handle the load.

I also have to note that an abundance of racecourses are featured on a site I frequent as being above the 50,000 mark in terms of attendance. Whether or not the FFA would ever have permission to use one of these grounds as a means of hosting a football match is unbeknownst to me, but if there's a possibility of it, then add the following:

Flemington Racecourse - 130,000
Sandown Racecourse - 50,000
Caulfield Racecourse - 50,000

[england66]

Actually Australia have a good chance of being able to host a World Cup way before 2018......



.....I also have to note that an abundance of racecourses are featured on a site I frequent as being above the 50,000 mark in terms of attendance. Whether or not the FFA would ever have permission to use one of these grounds as a means of hosting a football match is unbeknownst to me, but if there's a possibility of it, then add the following:

Flemington Racecourse - 130,000
Sandown Racecourse - 50,000
Caulfield Racecourse - 50,000[/edit]

No offence but this may well be one of the strangest bs posts ever....

[wufc]

Trust me, the World Cup will never be played on a racecourse. It makes no sense, the fans wouldn't even be able to see the match.

[england66]

Trust me, the World Cup will never be played on a racecourse. It makes no sense, the fans wouldn't even be able to see the match.


plus they'd all be on the "home stretch" side and about 1/4 mile from the touchline.....with the tote board in the middle of the pitch.....throw enough cash at Blatter/Jack Warner and they might go for it though...

...." I'll take a $10 exacta box on Brazil vs Italy to reach the final"

[Caesar]

I also have to note that an abundance of racecourses are featured on a site I frequent as being above the 50,000 mark in terms of attendance. Whether or not the FFA would ever have permission to use one of these grounds as a means of hosting a football match is unbeknownst to me, but if there's a possibility of it, then add the following:

Flemington Racecourse - 130,000
Sandown Racecourse - 50,000
Caulfield Racecourse - 50,000
Errr, dude... have you been to the races? Google an arial shot of Flemington and you'll see how inappropriate horse racing venues are for football.

[cmedina1983]

Errr, dude... have you been to the races? Google an arial shot of Flemington and you'll see how inappropriate horse racing venues are for football.

I have, which is why I thought it unlikely. But in the spirit of Aussie ingenuity I'm sure we'd be able to make something incredible out of a ************ situation if we were in desperate need of some sort of ground with a lot of seating. Believe me...it wouldn't surprise me if we somehow made a football field out of a damn racecourse. We're like MacGyver when it comes to alterations. Give us a field and we'll give you a stadium.

[golazo mvfc]

I have, which is why I thought it unlikely. But in the spirit of Aussie ingenuity I'm sure we'd be able to make something incredible out of a ************ situation if we were in desperate need of some sort of ground with a lot of seating. Believe me...it wouldn't surprise me if we somehow made a football field out of a damn racecourse. We're like MacGyver when it comes to alterations. Give us a field and we'll give you a stadium.
WTF

[cormacraig]

WTF

Oh come on, man, admit it that you want to see a stadium made of two pieces of gum, a matchstick and pliers. Don't you have any respect for MacGyver?

[golazo mvfc]

Hahahahah

[Excape Goat]

1st draft...

UEFA
England
France
Germany
Italy
Spain
BeNeLux
Russia?


Add Portugal to the list. I am basing this on Euro 2004.

[cmedina1983]

Oh come on, man, admit it that you want to see a stadium made of two pieces of gum, a matchstick and pliers. Don't you have any respect for MacGyver?

That's the spirit!

Stay tuned for the FFA's next venture:

A successful A-League football team from New Zealand.

Gotta give credit to the MacGyver lads, they haven't quite been able to pull this one off just yet but they're trying.

[scmcbride21]

I like the post. Would you consider an Iberian bid since your considering The Benelux bid as well? A lot of people think the current Iberian bid for 2018 is stronger then the Benelux.

Morocco, Tunisia, UAE I think can all be at least looked at, but they'd have to build retractable roof stadiums to deal with the extreme heat in June and July. Same goes for Egypt as well. Maybe Saudi Arabia too, but would people really feel safe going to those countries? There's cities like Dubai that people have no problem going to, but there are other major parts of those countries that people might not want to travel to if their country is playing. They have endless amounts of money so it must be looked at. Once the Canadien FA gets in the hands of someone who actually knows what they are doing they can field a decent bid and already have maybe a half dozen stadiums potential of hosting due to their CFL teams venues. Is Uruguay still going to get to host 2030 for the 100 year anniversary? A lot of private investors would have to help out and contribute but I think a lot of people would like to see it go back to it's roots for that event. Aside from those countries I really don't see any other counties with the potential to host it by atleast 2030. Now for rotating the World Cup I think it should be rotated like this. With each zone getting it every 12 years. The European Zone = all UEFA countries, The Americas Zone = all CONCACAF and CONMEBOL countries, and The Africasiaoceanic Zone = All CAF, AFC, and OFC countries. Here would be an example of who would get it.

2006 Germany = European Zone
2010 South Africa = Africasiaoceanic Zone
2014 Brazil = Americas Zone
2018 England = European Zone
2022 China = Africasiaoceanic Zone
2026 USA - Americas Zone

[GriffinGunner]

Add Portugal to the list. I am basing this on Euro 2004.

I like the post. Would you consider an Iberian bid since your considering The Benelux bid as well? A lot of people think the current Iberian bid for 2018 is stronger then the Benelux.Unless I'm mistaken, the only reason the Benelux bid is being permitted is that those governments have a cooperative administration already established, so it's less of a conventional joint bid a la Korea/Japan. Otherwise the understanding is FIFA would like to avoid joint bids for various logistical reasons. I'm not against them and FIFA might still be accommodating, but that's another thread.

Alone I don't think Portugal could pull it off, as they only have 3 venues above the 40k minimum. Remember Euro's only have 30k minimum, so while they have 8-9 nice stadiums many lack the capacity for a WC and you'd be hard pressed to find 7 A-grade candidates outside of Lisbon and Porto. Well, let me rephrase - It's certainly possible but it would require additional investment and many of those venues would either need to be reduced after the WC or would essentially sit as half empty white elephants. Historicaly the Portuguese Superliga only features 2-3 clubs with more than 20k in attendance. So while they did a wonderful job with the Euros, WC is likely out of reach.

Last note regarding Iberian joint bid - Spain shouldn't need Portugal to feature a nice bid, so while Portugal could add 2 high quality venues and destinations to the roster is that worth Spain selling two of it's own cities short and going through the politics of asking FIFA to give a 2nd guaranteed spot to the Portuguese NT? It's similar to the British bid theory - It would be alluring to add Parkhead and Murrayfield to the bid but England shouldn't need it and might rather see the investment in venues at places like Nottingham, Sheffield, Portsmouth, etc.

Morocco, Tunisia, UAE I think can all be at least looked at, but they'd have to build retractable roof stadiums to deal with the extreme heat in June and July. Same goes for Egypt as well. Maybe Saudi Arabia too, but would people really feel safe going to those countries? There's cities like Dubai that people have no problem going to, but there are other major parts of those countries that people might not want to travel to if their country is playing. They have endless amounts of money so it must be looked at.Well I can't say for sure but this sounds like another matter of differentiating between the possible and the realistic. Several nations have the wealth and space to build enough venues, but it's highly debatable if they're worthwhile investments. Would FIFA give the games to a rich nation that won't have viable uses for the venues after the event? I don't know, and I don't know of an African nation with sizable crowd support for their domestic football league. So I don't know that I'm ready to include the likes of Saudi Arabia or UAE to the list. The others may only be more seriously considered if/when joint bids are once again in fashion. Otherwise, if someone knows that a Morocco has the means to do this on their own I'd love to learn about the potential.
Once the Canadien FA gets in the hands of someone who actually knows what they are doing they can field a decent bid and already have maybe a half dozen stadiums potential of hosting due to their CFL teams venues.By my count Canada has 3-4 venues already at capacity:
Olympic Stadium in Montreal
Rodgers Center in Toronto (Skydome)
BC Place in Vancouver
Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton

A few others are near capacity and could be "easily" expanded and upgraded pending funds. So 10 venues with 40k+ seats is clearly possible. Would they be the 10 best cities for tourism and hosting international crowds? I don't know. (Regina? Halifax?) Would they be good enough to secure a bid against more soccer-oriented venues? Tough, especially if we're talking about a major soccer-loving nation and/or several new venues. Plus a Canadian bid would likely feature smaller venues overall and a finale @ Montreal's 65k Olympic Stadium. I'd say with commitment this is certainly possible, but it may be some time before they seriously consider a bid. But after investigating it looks more promising than I first thought.
Is Uruguay still going to get to host 2030 for the 100 year anniversary? A lot of private investors would have to help out and contribute but I think a lot of people would like to see it go back to it's roots for that event. Unlikely. The scale of the event has grown such that Uruguay would be hard pressed to find/want a WC worthy venue outside of Montevideo. IMO, anyway.

[johan neeskens]

The so-called Benelux bid isnt a Benelux bid. It's a Dutch-Belgian bid. Whether or not these countries cooperate on some government level is irrelevant - Korea and Japan didnt.

Spain hosted a world cup in the 1960s. As did England. The other top football European football nations, Germany, Italy and France, have all had the honour of hosting a world cup, Germany and Italy twice even if I remember correctly. And even Sweden got to host a world cup. That makes the Netherlands the only consistent top European football nation that has never hosted a world cup - this alone makes a Belgian-Dutch bid a worthy one as far as I'm concerned. Let's not forget that historically and overall, Belgium is a much stronger football nation than the US, Canada and Australia combined.

The Belgians and the Dutch meet all Fifa criteria. They will have the stadiums - and those stadiums won't be left empty or used for other sports after the world cup has finished: they will meet the ever growing demand for domestic league tickets and as such will give these domestic leagues some much appreciated support. The Belgians and the Dutch all speak English and many of them speak additional languages which ensures that visiting fans and the media will be happy. The two countries also have a perfect climate for football in the summer: not too hot, not too dry, not too cold. The two also offer the best infrastructure of all potential world cup hosts. Fans can travel from stadium to stadium within half a day even by car or train and the media can avail of excellent networks and technology. What's more important, esp when compared to the bids of Canada, Australia and the US, the Dutch and Belgian authorities know football. They deal with hundreds of thousands of potentially hostile fans every weekend, and Euro 2000 has taught them how to deal with tournaments of a grand scale.

From a pure football perspective, the 2018 bid is a no brainer as far as I'm concerned: it should go to Belgium and the Netherlands. Unfortunately other things come into play, as in the potential marketing value. For the likes of Nike, the Dutch and Belgian markets are saturated. The two countries are probably considered less exotic than Australia or even Spain to report on, and England would give the tournament more potential from a Hollywood gossip type of perspective. Fifa as usual is more interested in where it can generate more revenues than in paying back to those countries and football associations that have made fifa big in the first place. That's why I think the Dutch-Belgian bid has no chance. Again from a football perspective, the Dutch-Belgian bid should win easily, but considering what greedy corrupt insane bastards rule Fifa, we haven't a chance in hell.

[TOTC]

People, people. Don't forget Dubai. They are a fly in any potential World Cup or Olympic ointment.

As for an earlier question: how many U.S. states could host a World Cup ...

Florida

Tennessee

California

Texas

... Not a bad start.

[scmcbride21]

People, people. Don't forget Dubai. They are a fly in any potential World Cup or Olympic ointment.

As for an earlier question: how many U.S. states could host a World Cup ...

Florida

Tennessee

California

Texas

... Not a bad start.
How in the world did Tennessee get thrown into that mix? They are on no level on par with the rest of those states. Dubai is not a country. It's a city a part of the UAE. Newsflash, individual cities can't bid to host a World Cup by itself.