Morocco may have begun working on the joint 2030 FIFA World Cup bid as early as 2018, several years before it was officially announced in March 2023. This is according to the Spanish media outlet The Objective, which claims to have reviewed text message exchanges involving former Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales, Morocco’s ambassador to Spain Karima Benyaich, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
According to the report, Rubiales told the Moroccan diplomat as early as June 2018 that Spain, Portugal, and Morocco would « host a World Cup together. » A few weeks later, he reportedly presented the project to Pedro Sánchez as a genuine « matter of state, » receiving a favorable response.
Morocco at the heart of the project from the beginning?
If these exchanges are authentic, they suggest that the idea of a three-country bid was already under consideration long before it was officially announced. However, it was only in March 2023, in Kigali, that King Mohammed VI announced Morocco’s inclusion in the joint bid with Spain and Portugal.
These revelations have fueled debate in Spain, where some believe that Morocco’s inclusion has reshaped the competition, particularly in the race to host the 2030 World Cup final between Madrid, Barcelona, and Casablanca.
For the Kingdom, they reinforce the idea that Morocco did not join the project at the last minute but was involved in the discussions leading to the joint bid from a very early stage. However, the message exchanges published by The Objective have not, at this stage, been officially confirmed by the parties involved.
