World Cup 2030: Tournament to be held across three continents for the first time

Argentina were the winners of the last world cup competition held in Qatar

The World Cup 2030 will be held across six countries and three continents for the first time in the history of the football tournament, Fifa, the body which oversees international football, has announced.

Spain, Portugal and Morocco have been named as the co-hosts by Fifa, with the opening three matches taking place in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.

The decision is set to be confirmed by the football governing body next year.

The opening game of the 2030 World Cup tournament is set to be held in Montevideo in Uruguay

The opening matches in South America will mark the World Cup's 100th birthday.

The competition began in 1930 in Uruguay's capital Montevideo, with teams from just 13 countries taking part.

The opening game in 2030 is set to take place Montevideo, with matches in Argentina and Paraguay to follow. The rest of the tournament will then move to north Africa and Europe.

The change of hemispheres means World Cup teams could find themselves playing in two different seasons at the same tournament.

"In a divided world, Fifa and football are uniting," said Fifa president Gianni Infantino.

"The Fifa Council, representing the entire world of football, unanimously agreed to celebrate the centenary of the Fifa World Cup, whose first edition was played in Uruguay in 1930, in the most appropriate way.

"In 2030, we will have a unique global footprint, three continents - Africa, Europe and South America - six countries - Argentina, Morocco, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain and Uruguay - welcoming and uniting the world while celebrating together the beautiful game, the centenary and the Fifa World Cup."

The announcements about the 2030 tournament were made at a press conference in Luque in Paraguay

The World Cup being held across three continents isn't the only big change to the competition. From 2026, the number of teams competing at the World Cup will rise from 32 to 48, making the tournament bigger than it's ever been.

Fifa also announced it'll only be considering bids from countries from the Asian Football Confederation and the Oceania Football Confederation for the 2034 finals.

Following that decision, Saudi Arabia has said it will be bidding to host the tournament in 2034 for the first time.

What's the response been?

The last World Cup, held in Qatar, also drew lots of criticism

Not everyone is happy with Fifa's decision to host the World Cup across three continents and some have drawn attention to the impact this could have on fans and the environment. Saudi Arabia's World Cup bid has also been criticised.

"[It's] horrendous for supporters, disregards the environment and rolls the red carpet out to a host for 2034 with an appalling human rights record. It's the end of the World Cup as we know it," said Football Supporters Europe which works to champion the voices of European football supporters.

Estadio Centenario is a football stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay

Freddie Daley who is a researcher for Global Economy Policy at the University of Sussex, says Fifa's decision to expand the World Cup across three continents is "concerning" after false statements it made about the reduced environmental impact of the 2022 World Cup.

"A World Cup of this size and scale will involve a lot of air travel, a lot of fan travel, a lot of athlete travel and I am very unsure whether Fifa will be able to deliver this in a sustainable and climate friendly way," the researcher said.

"I think Fifa's actions so far point towards them not being very credible on what they have promised to do in regards to climate and climate action.

"Fifa as an organisation has huge responsibility to citizens around the world to help educate on climate, raise awareness and also bring them on that journey to net zero as part of the energy transition.

"Announcements like this today make me question their integrity on climate and their support for the energy transition."

"This is Fifa showing complete disregard for fans as fans and fans as humans," said Katie Cross, CEO and founder of Pledgeball, a fan charity which campaigns for greater sustainability in football.