The football World Cup just keeps getting bigger and bigger. First it was an increase of 16 countries. Now there could be an increase of host countries. FIFA president Gianni Infantino says football’s world governing body will now encourage co-hosting of the World Cup when it is expanded to 48 teams in 2026. Starting that year the World Cup could be split between up to four countries.
Infantino’s newest idea is borne out of concerns raised about the financial burden placed on a single tournament host as well as stadiums that are built and then abandoned after use, like the sorry state of Brazil and Greece after staging Olympiads and World Cups. Brazil needed 12 stadiums (seven new and five renovated) in 12 cities to stage the 2014 World Cup. If four countries are to host future editions, each one will need no more than five stadiums and maybe even as few as three.
So far, two World Cup hosts have been the limit, and it only happened once. The one time the World Cup was simultaneously hosted in two countries was in 2002 when Japan and South Korea staged it together, a tournament that was widely heralded as a success.
The European Championship has in contrast been co-hosted more than once. Belgium and the Netherlands played hosts in 2000, Austria and Switzerland in 2008 and Poland and Ukraine in 2012. In fact, the next tournament in 2020 has been designated as Pan-European and is due to be staged in a whopping 13 cities.
When last year Infantino came up with the idea to increase the World Cup to 48 countries from its present 32, it appeared to be a vote-grabbing policy from world football’s governing supremo who did not necessarily have the game’s best interests front and center. Such an increase is bound to dilute the standard of the game and would increase the chances of Infatino getting re-elected because more satisfied customers, i.e., country federations, would get a bigger slice of the World Cup pie.
The idea of more host countries would be huge for FIFA in terms of sponsorships and growing its already huge tax-free revenues from organizing football’s most prestigious international competition. More money will flow into FIFA’s coffers but the last time cash flooded freely into FIFA, the dam broke. There will need to be more accountability if FIFA is to avoid a repeat of the huge corruption scandal that engulfed it two years ago.
Infantino’s multi-host idea could open the way for a joint 2026 bid from the US, Canada and Mexico, which have already said they intend to hold discussions over the possibility. But there is plenty of opportunity for other countries to bid for future editions. One region in particular, the Arab Gulf, would be well positioned to stage a three or four-country World Cup. Gulf countries have the potential for more than two geographically proximate nations coming together to stage the tournament. It is one hop from one Gulf country to another, by air, sea and even road. GCC countries are geographically close to each other, which would ease travel, allying the concern of fans wanting to follow their teams through different countries.
Gulf countries also have the financial resources and could acquire the technical know-how to stage a World Cup together. Bound by their historically close ties, religion and language, they would be ideal multi-hosts. And while joint hosting could raise security concerns, the Gulf is as safe a region as almost anywhere else in the world.
Qatar, which has the honor of hosting the 2022 World Cup, could become the last single host country. It will also be the first Gulf country to host a World Cup. It doesn’t have to be the last.
