The 2026 World Cup is less than two years away. This current World Cup cycle is well underway. As we get excited for 2026, I thought it would be interesting to look even further ahead. With what’s currently known about 2030, and with what we can extrapolate thereof, I wanted to put together a better picture of what the next World Cup cycle could look like, and of course, what the 2030 World Cup itself could look like. Of course we should keep in mind that nothing is set in stone, and this far enough out still, that there are many factors that could change between now and 2030. With all of that in mind, let’s get started…
What We Know
- The FIFA International Windows Calendar for up to and including 2030.
- The general scheduling practices of all the major competitions from all of the confederations, as well as the actual schedule for most of the upcoming editions thereof within the 2030 World Cup cycle.
- The hosts for most of the upcoming major competitions in the 2030 World Cup cycle.
- The World Cup Qualifiers formats for the 2026 World Cup, which will be unchanged for AFC and OFC in the 2030 World Cup cycle, but which will have to be modified in the other confederations.
- We know the venues that have been officially proposed as match hosts from Spain, Portugal and Morocco for the 2030 World Cup, and we know the opening match will be held at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Uruguay as part of Centenary Celebrations commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the First World Cup in 1930, which will also include second and third matches being hosted in Paraguay and Argentina respectively. We also know some specific dates of scheduling within the overall schedule of the 2030 World Cup.
What to Infer/Assume for Extrapolation…
- The 2030 World Cup Qualifiers modifications for CONCACAF will have to factor in filling all six direct berths and only one Inter-Confederation (Intercontinental) Playoffs (IPO) berth since they will be returning to non-host status.
- The 2030 World Cup Qualifiers modifications for CAF, CONMEBOL and UEFA will have to factor in the exclusion of direct qualification berths for the six host nations respectively as they all automatically qualify as hosts. Additionally, it is expected that each confederation will receive an additional IPO berth, so that too will need to be factored into each confederation’s respective Qualifiers modifications.
- For the time being, we should assume that all the proposed venues for the 2030 World Cup will be approved, and that several of them will require renovations, upgrades and expansions by 2030 in order to meet FIFA requirements. We can also probably assume that the venues for the matches in Paraguay and Argentina will likely be held in the capital cities thereof, and be the largest capacity venues therein.
- We can likely assume that, as much as possible, much of the look of the 2030 World Cup cycle (formatting and scheduling of qualifiers for, and the main events of, the various major competitions), and much of the 2030 World Cup itself, will resemble, at least in approach, that of the 2026 World Cup cycle and main event, with only specific modifications to account for some of the unique circumstances therein.
With all of that in mind, let’s start extrapolating.
Extrapolation
Potential 2030 World Cup Cycle Schedule
This is the schedule I came up. That said, the most important things to consider when creating this schedule were the formats for the World Cup Qualifiers, and in particular the ones that would require modifications for this World Cup cycle specifically. As such, this was what I came up with in that regard:
World Cup Qualifiers Formats
CAF
- Morocco automatically qualifies as a main Co-Host nation.
- Eight direct qualification berths and two IPO berths would be up for competition among fifty-three national teams.
Round 1
- Ten teams (ranked 44-53) would be drawn into five pairs.
- Teams ranked 44-48 would be seeded.
- Each pair would play a home-and-away double-leg aggregate elimination series.
- Seeded teams would host Leg 2.
- Each series winner would advance to Round 2.
Round 2
- Forty-eight teams (ranked 1-43 + five Round 1 winners) would be drawn from six pots of eight teams each into eight groups of six teams each, with pot seeding based on FIFA World Rankings at the time of the draw.
- Each group would play a home-and-away round robin.
- The winner of each group would directly qualify for the World Cup.
- The runner-up of each group would advance to Round 3.
Round 3
- Eight teams would be drawn into two paths of four teams each, with higher ranked teams in FIFA World Rankings at the time of the draw being seeded.
- Each path would play a single elimination bracket.
- Seeded teams would host each path's Semifinals fixture.
- The winners of Paths A and B Semifinal 1 would host the Paths A and B Finals respectively.
- Each path winner would qualify for the IPO.
CONCACAF
- Returning to non-host status.
- Six direct berths and one IPO berth would be up for competition among thirty-five national teams.
Round 1
- Twenty-two teams (ranked 14-35) would be drawn into eleven pairs.
- Teams ranked 14-23 would be seeded.
- Each pair would play a home-and-away double-leg aggregate elimination series.
- Seeded teams would host Leg 2.
- The winner from each series would advance to Round 2.
Round 2
- Twenty-four teams (ranked 1-13 and the eleven Round 1 winners) would be drawn out of four pots of six teams each into six groups of four teams each, with pot seeding based on FIFA World Rankings at the time of the draw.
- Each group would play a home-and-away round robin.
- The winner of each group would directly qualify for the World Cup, while the best group runner-up would qualify for the IPO.
CONMEBOL
- Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay automatically qualify as Anniversary Match Co-Host nations.
- Three Direct qualification berths and two IPO berths would be up for competition among seven national teams.
- Those seven national teams would compete in a heptagonal table of a home-and-away round robin.
- At its conclusion, the top three teams would directly qualify, while the fourth and fifth place teams would qualify for the IPO.
UEFA
- Spain and Portugal automatically qualify as main Co-Hosts nations.
- Fourteen direct qualification berths and one IPO berth would be up for competition among fifty-three national teams.
Round 1
- Two teams (ranked 52-53) would play a home-and-away double-leg aggregate elimination series.
- The team ranked higher would host Leg 2.
- The series winner would advance to Round 2.
Round 2
- Fifty-two teams (ranked 1-51 + the Round 1 winner) would be drawn from four pots of thirteen teams each into thirteen groups of four teams each.
- Each group would play a home-and-away round robin.
- The group winners would directly qualify for the World Cup. The top four group runners-up would advance to Round 3.
Round 3
- Four teams would play in a single elimination bracket.
- Teams would be drawn into Semifinals fixtures based on FIFA World Rankings at the time of the draw, with higher ranked teams being seeded.
- Seeded teams would host each Semifinals fixture.
- The winner of Semifinal A would host the Final.
- The winner of the Final would directly qualify for the World Cup. The runner-up of the Final would qualify for the IPO.
Potential Schedule for the 2030 World Cup
This is the schedule I came up with for the 2030 World Cup. I tried to give it an aesthetic to resemble the 2026 World Cup schedule, while also borrowing elements from the Spain-Portugal-Morocco Official Bid, and building off of those elements with the aesthetic.
With all of the above in mind, there were some other key things that went into consideration when putting together this schedule…
Venues
- Aside from the opening venue of the Centenary Celebrations, the other two venues will likely be Estadio General Pablo Rojas in Asunción, Paraguay as it's the only existing stadium in Paraguay that already meets FIFA’s capacity requirements for hosting World Cup matches, and Estadio Mâs Monumental in Buenos Aires, Argentina with the largest capacity in the country, currently at 84,567.
- Based on the official proposal recently submitted to FIFA by the main host nations, the maximum number of host venues (twenty) per FIFA regulations would be met by the three host nations, with Spain contributing eleven, Portugal contributing three, and Morocco contributing six. These venues would consist of (in alphabetical order within each Co-Host nation…
Spain
- Anoeta (Donostia-San Sebastián)
- Camp Nou (Les Corts, Barcelona)
- Estadio Gran Canaria (Las Palmas)
- La Cartuja (Sevilla)
- La Rosaleda (Málaga)
- Metropolitano (San Blas-Canillejas, Madrid)
- Nueva Romareda (Zaragoza)
- RCDE Stadium (Cornellà de Llobregat, Barcelona)
- Riazor (A Coruña)
- San Mamés (Bilbao)
- Santiago Bernabéu (Chamartín, Madrid)
Portugal
- Estádio do Dragão (Porto)
- Estádio José Alvalade (Telheiras, Lisbon)
- Estádio da Luz (Benfica, Lisbon)
Morocco
- Adrar Stadium (Agadir)
- Fez Stadium (Fez)
- Hassan II Stadium (Casablanca)
- Ibn Battouta Stadium (Tangier)
- Marrakech Stadium (Marrakech)
- Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium (Rabat)
Regional Zones
I suspect that Regional Zones will become more of a standard practice, as FIFA’s requirement of 14-20 venues for the new 48-team format means travel costs and logistics will always need to be mitigated moving forward.
Therefore, based on the above listed venues, plus the three Anniversary Match venues, it seemed clear to me to go for the simplest option: Centenary Region for the three Anniversary Match host venues, and then the main host venues being divided into Northern, Central and Southern Regions respectively. Here is a map I created in Google Maps to provide a visualization of that Regional Zoning.
Match Distribution
Continuing to work under the assumption that twenty venues would be hosting the main tournament, the spread of fixtures could be far more even. Subtracting the three opening matches and the Final (since reports suggest that it will go to Santiago Bernabéu, and for the sake of this exercise we'll assume they're correct), that's one hundred total matches to divide among twenty venues. As such, I simply gave each of them five matches.
- Sixty-nine remaining Group Stage fixtures after the Anniversary Matches meant giving at least three to each venue, leaving nine left to distribute. To keep things relatively even, I decided to give one venue Group Stage fixtures for all five of their matches, which left seven venues to each receive a fourth Group Stage fixture on their respective schedules.
- Nineteen venues entering the Knockouts Stage, of which up to sixteen could host Round of 32 fixtures, up to eight could host Round of 16 fixtures, up to four could host Quarterfinals fixtures, two hosting Semifinals fixtures, and two hosting the Finals.
- Since seven venues only have one fixture remaining on their respective dockets, four of them could end their hosting run in the Round of 32, and three could do so in the Round of 16. That would still leave twelve venues to allocate the remaining Round of 32 fixtures, and of those twelve, five would finish their respective hosting runs in the Round of 16.
- After the Round of 16, seven venues would remain. We know the Bernabéu would host the Final, and thus be the only venue to host six total fixtures. That leaves seven remaining fixtures to be equally distributed among these seven remaining venues. It makes sense to give one of the Quarterfinals fixtures to the Bernabéu, since that gives it an even scheduling spread for the Knockouts Stage: Round of 32, Quarterfinals, Final; with a round in between each fixture.
- No venues under a 60,000 capacity would be allowed to host beyond the Round of 16.
- All fixtures would be allocated in such a way so that teams playing therein would have a minimum of three days spread between matches, and with travel being limited to being between two venues either within the same Regional Zone or adjacent Regional Zones.
Breakdown of Match Distribution Among the Main Host Venues
Note: Venues are listed in order by Regional Zone and highest to lowest capacities. Also, the capacities listed below are as expected for the 2030 World Cup, not necessarily reflective of their current status. As such, any that aren't currently at that capacity, or any that aren't currently constructed, will be listed below in italic. Finally, note the following abbreviations:
– Group Stage = GS
– Round of 32 = R32
– Round of 16 = R16
– Quarterfinals = QF
– Semifinals = SF
– Bronze Final = BF
– Final = F
– Total = T
| Region | Venue | Capacity | GS | R32 | R16 | QF | SF | BF | F | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern | Camp Nou | 105,000 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Northern | San Mamés | 53,289 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Northern | Riazor | 48,000 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Northern | Anoeta | 45,000 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Northern | RCDE | 45,000 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Northern | La Romareda | 45,000 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Central | Santiago Bernabéu | 81,044 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ✅️ | 6 |
| Central | Metropolitano | 70,460 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ✅️ | 0 | 5 |
| Central | La Cartuja | 70,000 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Central | Luz | 64,642 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Central | José Alvalade | 50,095 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Central | Dragão | 50,033 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Central | La Rosaleda | 45,000 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Southern | Hassan II | 115,000 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Southern | Ibn Battouta | 88,000 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Southern | Prince Moulay Abdellah | 69,500 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Southern | Fez | 55,000 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Southern | Marrakech | 55,000 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Southern | Adrar | 55,000 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Southern | Gran Canaria | 45,000 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
Host Allocation
We have a general blueprint of the Knockouts Stage bracketing from the 2026 World Cup schedule. A key thing to note from it, is that with three host nations, their group allocation was based on an ideal scenario, where so long as each wins their respective group, they each would have a smoother path in the Knockouts Stage brackets, and would be kept away from each other as long as possible, should they all have deep runs.
With there technically being 6 hosts in 2030, that becomes a more difficult factor to contend with. We know that the group winners in 2026 from groups A, B, D, E, G, I, K and L will all face third place teams in the Round of 32. Mexico was also assigned to Group A, since they are hosting the opening ceremony and match of the tournament.
Based on all of that, I suspect that all the hosts in 2030 will be assigned to Groups A-F, but specific allocation will be based on when each host will play their opening match, and where their respective group winners would land on the Knockouts Stage brackets. I suspect that, given the unique nature of the schedule to include the Centenary Celebrations, but also distance them from the remainder of the tournament, that the group allocation for the hosts will proceed as follows:
A. Morocco
B. Portugal
C. Argentina
D. Spain
E. Uruguay
F. Paraguay
2030 World Cup Schedule Breakdowns
Group Stage
Match Breakdown Per Group
| Group | Matchday 1 | Matchday 2 | Matchday 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | M4 & M7 | M25 & M27 | M51 & M52 |
| B | M5 & M8 | M26 & M28 | M53 & M54 |
| C | M3 & M9 | M30 & M31 | M49 & M50 |
| D | M6 & M12 | M29 & M32 | M55 & M56 |
| E | M1 & M11 | M35 & M36 | M59 & M60 |
| F | M2 & M10 | M33 & M34 | M57 & M58 |
| G | M14 & M15 | M38 & M40 | M65 & M66 |
| H | M13 & M16 | M37 & M39 | M63 & M64 |
| I | M17 & M20 | M41 & M47 | M61 & M62 |
| J | M18 & M19 | M42 & M43 | M67 & M68 |
| K | M21 & M22 | M44 & M48 | M71 & M72 |
| L | M23 & M24 | M45 & M46 | M69 & M70 |
Match Breakdown Per Day
Note: all dates are in June
| Match | 8 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M1 (E) | M2 (F) | M4 (A) | M5 (B) | M7 (A) | M10 (F) | M13 (H) | M17 (I) | M21 (K) | M25 (A) | M29 (D) | M33 (F) | M37 (H) | M41 (I) | M45 (L) | M49 (C) | M55 (D) | M61 (I) | M67 (K) |
| 2 | M3 (C) | M6 (D) | M8 (B) | M11 (E) | M14 (G) | M18 (J) | M22 (K) | M26 (B) | M30 (C) | M34 (F) | M38 (G) | M42 (J) | M46 (L) | M50 (C) | M56 (D) | M62 (I) | M68 (K) | ||
| 3 | M9 (C) | M12 (D) | M15 (G) | M19 (J) | M23 (L) | M27 (A) | M31 (C) | M35 (E) | M39 (H) | M43 (J) | M47 (I) | M51 (A) | M57 (F) | M63 (H) | M69 (L) | ||||
| 4 | M16 (H) | M20 (I) | M24 (L) | M28 (B) | M32 (D) | M36 (E) | M40 (G) | M44 (K) | M48 (K) | M52 (A) | M58 (F) | M64 (H) | M70 (L) | ||||||
| 5 | M53 (B) | M59 (E) | M65 (G) | M71 (J) | |||||||||||||||
| 6 | M54 (B) | M60 (E) | M66 (G) | M72 (J) |
Group Fixture Amounts By Region
| Group | Centenary | Northern | Central | Southern |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| B | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| C | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| E | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| F | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| G | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| H | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| I | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| J | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| K | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Knockouts Stage
Abbreviation Legend
| Name/Term | Abbreviation |
|---|---|
| A Coruña | AC |
| Bilbao | Bil |
| Donostia-San Sebastián | DSS |
| Zaragoza | Zar |
| Les Corts | Cor |
| Cornellà de Llobregat | CL |
| Porto | Pto |
| Benfica | Ben |
| Telheiras | Tel |
| Chamartín | Cha |
| San Blas-Canillejas | SBC |
| Sevilla | Sev |
| Málaga | Mál |
| Tangier | Tan |
| Rabat | Rab |
| Casablanca | Cas |
| Marrakech | Mak |
| Agadir | Aga |
| Match | M |
| Winner | W |
| Loser | L |
| Any one team's group standing | [insert group standing][insert group letter here] |
| Round of 32 | R32 |
| Round of 16 | R16 |
| Quarterfinals | QF |
| Semifinals | SF |
| Bronze Final | BF |
Brackets
You can view the brackets here. Each match on the bracket is colour-coded too, so you can see the breakdown, by region, of each path along the brackets.
Earliest Potential Scenarios of Host Matchups
| ⚽️ | 🇲🇦1 | 🇲🇦2 | 🇲🇦3 | 🇵🇹1 | 🇵🇹2 | 🇵🇹3 | 🇦🇷1 | 🇦🇷2 | 🇦🇷3 | 🇪🇸1 | 🇪🇸2 | 🇪🇸3 | 🇺🇾1 | 🇺🇾2 | 🇺🇾3 | 🇵🇾1 | 🇵🇾2 | 🇵🇾3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇲🇦1 | X | X | X | SF | Finals | Finals | QF | Finals | R32 | Finals | SF | SF | Finals | QF | R32 | Finals | QF | R32 |
| 🇲🇦2 | X | X | X | Finals | R32 | QF | Finals | R16 | QF | SF | Finals | QF | QF | Finals | SF | QF | Finals | QF |
| 🇲🇦3 | X | X | X | Finals | QF | R16 | R32 | Finals | R16 | SF | Finals | R16 | R32 | Finals | R16 | R32 | Finals | R16 |
| 🇵🇹1 | SF | Finals | Finals | X | X | X | SF | Finals | Finals | Finals | QF | R16 | Finals | QF | R32 | Finals | SF | R32 |
| 🇵🇹2 | Finals | R32 | QF | X | X | X | Finals | R16 | QF | QF | Finals | QF | SF | Finals | SF | SF | Finals | QF |
| 🇵🇹3 | Finals | QF | R16 | X | X | X | Finals | Finals | R16 | R16 | Finals | R16 | R32 | Finals | R16 | R32 | Finals | R16 |
| 🇦🇷1 | QF | Finals | Finals | SF | Finals | Finals | X | X | X | Finals | SF | SF | Finals | R16 | QF | Finals | R32 | QF |
| 🇦🇷2 | Finals | R16 | Finals | Finals | R16 | Finals | X | X | X | SF | Finals | QF | Finals | Finals | SF | Finals | Finals | QF |
| 🇦🇷3 | R32 | QF | R16 | SF | QF | R16 | X | X | X | SF | SF | R16 | R32 | QF | R16 | QF | QF | R16 |
| 🇪🇸1 | Finals | SF | R16 | Finals | SF | R32 | Finals | SF | SF | X | X | X | SF | Finals | R32 | SF | Finals | R32 |
| 🇪🇸2 | SF | Finals | Finals | SF | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | SF | X | X | X | Finals | SF | QF | Finals | SF | QF |
| 🇪🇸3 | SF | QF | R16 | R16 | QF | R16 | Finals | QF | R16 | X | X | X | R32 | SF | R16 | QF | SF | R16 |
| 🇺🇾1 | Finals | QF | R32 | Finals | QF | R32 | Finals | QF | R32 | SF | Finals | R32 | X | X | X | QF | Finals | R32 |
| 🇺🇾2 | QF | Finals | Finals | QF | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | QF | Finals | SF | SF | X | X | X | Finals | R16 | QF |
| 🇺🇾3 | R32 | SF | R16 | R32 | SF | R16 | Finals | SF | R16 | R32 | QF | R16 | X | X | X | SF | QF | R16 |
| 🇵🇾1 | Finals | R16 | QF | Finals | R16 | QF | Finals | R32 | QF | SF | Finals | QF | QF | Finals | SF | X | X | X |
| 🇵🇾2 | QF | Finals | Finals | SF | Finals | Finals | R32 | Finals | QF | Finals | SF | SF | Finals | R16 | QF | X | X | X |
| 🇵🇾3 | R32 | QF | R16 | R32 | QF | R16 | QF | QF | R16 | R32 | QF | R16 | R32 | QF | R16 | X | X | X |
So there you have it. Will it all end up looking exactly like this? Probably not. However, now that we have a better idea of how things are looking and will look in the build-up to 2026, and a better idea of how that edition of the tournament will play out, and with all the news that we continue to get in relation to 2030 and the build-up to that edition of the tournament, it's getting easier to make sense of it all, so I thought it was worthwhile to take this exploration.
Let me know what you think in the comments below.
by TrevorBatson