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Uruguay and Argentina to launch joint 2030 World Cup bid

August 22, 2017

South American neighbors Uruguay and Argentina are set to launch a joint bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup. Uruguay hosted the inaugural competition in 1930 and wants to do so again to mark the event's centenary.

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Fußball WM Qualifikation Argentinien - Uruguay
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/N. Aguilera

Uruguay and Argentina are set to launch a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup, the Uruguayan President Tabare Vazguez said on Monday.

The official announcement is to be made when Argentine President Mauricio Macri visits Uruguay on August 30, before the two countries meet in a World Cup 2018 qualifier in Montevideo on August 31.

The two countries are hoping to win the rights to host the tournament to mark the centenary of the inaugural World Cup in 1930 when hosts Uruguay beat Argentina 4-2 in the final. Uruguay won it for a second time in 1950.

Argentinien Uruguay Tabare Vazquez und Mauricio Macri
Uruguayan President Tabare Vazguez (l) with his Argentinian counterpart, Mauricio Macri Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/N. Pisarenko

Argentina have also won the competition twice, first on home soil in 1978 and again in Mexico in 1986.

The last time the World Cup was staged in South America was Brazil 2014 - when Germany beat Argentina in the final. The 2018 edition is to take place in Russia and the 2022 tournament is to be hosted by Qatar - decisions that have caused substantial controversy due to alleged corruption.

The joint Uruguay-Argentina bid for 2030 is expected to face stiff competition from Asia, where China are favorites to stage the finals, while a joint United States-Mexico-Canada bid is seen as the favorite to win the right to host the 2026 tournament.

Uruguay and Argentina share close economic, cultural and political ties with each other, although a dispute over alleged water contamination in the Uruguay River which forms the border between the two countries caused controversy in the 2000s, with Argentina taking the matter to the International Court of Justice. In 2010, the two countries formed a joint commission to coordinate activities on thie river.

mf/pfd (AFP, dpa)