2030 World Cup May be ‘Coming Home’ as Theresa May Backs UK and Ireland Joint Bid

UK’s Prime Minister Theresa May has thrown her support behind the UK and Ireland joint bid for the 2030 World Cup.

The ball moves forward, after May’s endorsement

The UK government recently announced they’re looking to make a collective effort with Ireland in putting forth an official joint bid to host the World Cup 12 years away, online sportsbook news report. Currently, all of UK’s member football associations, along with Ireland’s FA, are exploring ways to make a successful bid they can place to football’s governing body – FIFA.

“Following the excitement of this summer’s World Cup, the English FA are working together with the FAs of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland to explore whether there could be a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup,” said the Prime Minister.

“The decision on whether to bid is, of course, for the football associations to make. But if they decide to go forward, they can count on this government’s full support.”

The shadow culture secretary of the Labour party, Tom Watson, highlighted that they’ve already expressed their support for the 2030 World Cup bid back in July, following England’s success in Russia that saw them clinch fourth spot – their best finish at a World Cup since 1990 Italy.

“I’m delighted that the prime minister has followed Labour’s lead and is willing to back a bid,” said the deputy Labour leader. “This summer’s World Cup and the performance of England inspired the nation. In 2030, it’s time for football to come home.”

What would happen if the UK and Ireland actually won the bid?

In the event that the UK and Ireland win the ambitious bid to host the 2030 World Cup, it would spell some unprecedented changes to the tournament, per online sportsbooks in the UK. With UK consisting of four nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), and adding to that Ireland, it means that a total of five countries would effectively serve as hosts for the 2030 World Cup.

This also means that five countries would enter the tournament automatically without having to previously qualify for the World Cup finals. Your first thought probably jumps to the idea that there will be less qualifying places for the UEFA member nations, but the good news is that the tournament is expanding to 48 countries starting from the 2026 World Cup, that will be hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico.

The 48-nation format of the World Cup will become a standard characteristic, so essentially more places will open up in the qualifiers for all the football associations around the globe, including UEFA, thus allowing enough spots for European heavyweights to enter the 2030 event, despite the five-nation bid.

But one important thing must be mentioned about the UK and Ireland’s potential staging of the 2030 World Cup, and that’s the infrastructure. All the biggest and high-tech football stadiums are already there, so there would be no need to break the bank to build new ground. Wembley Stadium, Old Trafford, The Emirates Stadium, Anfield, The Etihad Stadium, Tottenham’s new ground, London Stadium and many more would all be used to host the matches, which would be thrilling for fans that come flocking from all corners of the world.