Spanish FA names 11 proposed 2030 World Cup stadiums

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has announced its proposed 11 stadiums to host matches at the 2030 World Cup.

Barcelona’s Camp Nou, Real Madrid’s Bernabeu and Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium are the three biggest venues selected.

Real Sociedad’s Anoeta, Gran Canaria Stadium of Las Palmas, Estadio La Cartuja in Seville, Espanyol’s RCDE Stadium, Estadio Riazor of Deportivo La Coruna and Athletic Bilbao’s San Mames Stadium complete the shortlist.

Valencia, Spain’s third most populous city, has not been included as a host, with the 70,000-capacity Mestella not among the 11. Celta Vigo’s Estadio Abanca Balaidos also misses out.

Host cities Barcelona and Madrid are both providing two stadiums, with Camp Nou and the RCDE Stadium selected from the former and the Bernabeu and Metropolitano Stadium from the latter. There are also two venues in the Basque Country with the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao and Anoeta in San Sebastian.

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It was announced in October that Spain, Morocco and Portugal had been selected as joint hosts for the 2030 World Cup, while the opening three matches of the tournament will be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.

In addition to Spain’s 11 venues, Morocco will provide six venues and Portugal three.

Spain had initially intended to put forward 13 venues but FIFA regulations state a maximum of 20 stadiums can be presented.

“The RFEF has worked intensively on this option (of 13 venues), conveying it to its candidacy partners, but both the Moroccan Federation and the Portuguese Football Federation have considered that FIFA regulations must be respected, which establish a maximum of 20 venues, which means that Spain will have 11 venues,” an RFEF statement read.

Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, Tangier’s Ibn Batouta Stadium, Adrar Stadium in Agadir, Marrakesh Stadium and Fez Stadium, plus the planned 115,000-capacity Grand Stadium of Casablanca, are the six venues proposed by Morocco.

Portugal confirmed Benfica’s Estadio da Luz, Sporting CP’s Estadio Jose Alvalade and Porto’s Estadio do Dragao as their three venues in March.

Porto’s Estadio do Dragao holds just over 50,000 spectators (Octavio Passos/Getty Images

The venue for the 2030 World Cup final is yet to be announced, but FIFA has confirmed the opening game will be played at Estadio Centenario in Uruguay, the stadium which was purpose-built for the 1930 tournament and hosted the final.

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Portugal and Morocco are hosting the World Cup for the first time, while Spain held the 1982 tournament.

Following the 2030 stadium announcements, the RFEF also confirmed the 45 proposed training bases for the tournament. They include the Real Madrid Sports City, Levante UD Sports City in Valencia and Villarreal’s Jose Manuel Llaneza training ground.

Spain’s proposed 2030 World Cup venues

• Anoeta (Donostia-San Sebastian)
• Camp Nou (Barcelona)
• Gran Canaria (Las Palmas)
• Estadio La Cartuja (Seville)
• The Rose Garden (Malaga)
• Metropolitan (Madrid)
• New Romareda (Zaragoza)
• RCDE Stadium (Barcelona, ​​Cornella-El Prat)
• Riazor (A Coruna)
• San Mames (Bilbao)
• Santiago Bernabeu (Madrid)

(Top photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)