In another gesture that reaffirms his intentions to organize the World in 2030CONMEBOL presented on Friday the stadiums of Argentina, Paraguay, Chile and Uruguay in which the games would be played on the centenary of the first World Cup if the joint candidacy prospers.
Montevideo’s Centenario stadium, site of the first final in 1930; the Monument of Buenos Aires; the Nacional in Santiago de Chile and the Defensores del Chaco in Asunción are some of the most emblematic playing fields of South American football that appear in a list of 18.
“We want the World Cup, we have to honor memory, history,” said the president of CONMEBOL, Alejandro Domínguez, when announcing the venues that could host the competition, during the entity’s 76th Congress.
In the auditorium was the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, invited to the conclave that brings together the ten South American federations.
“President Infantino, I want to propose to you that we find together a way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the world. It is not the 2030 cup, this is the centenary cup. Life gave you the opportunity to be the president,” said Domínguez. “Let’s not make the mistake of the Olympic Games that did not go to Athens in 1996. Later it was no longer justified. We have a historic moment, we have the chance for FIFA to shine”.
The reference pointed to the choice of Atlanta to host the Olympic Games when the centenary of Athens 1896 was celebrated.
Argentina leads the list with seven stadiums. In addition to the Monumental, the one with the largest capacity in the region with 83,000 seats, there is also the Mario Alberto Kempes stadium in Córdoba (57,000), as well as three venues in Buenos Aires: the Único de La Plata (53,000); the Libertadores de América (48,000) and President Perón (42,000). The list is completed with the Malvinas Argentinas of Mendoza (42,000) and the Only Mother of Cities of Santiago del Estero (30,000).
Paraguay continues with five venues: the Conmebol stadium to be built (60,000); General Pablo Rojas of Asunción (45,000); Antonio Aranda from Ciudad del Este (28,000); Villa Alegre de Encarnación (45,000) together with the aforementioned Defensores del Chaco (45,000).
In Uruguay it would also be played at the Campeón del Siglo stadium (40,000) and the Gran Parque Central (34,000), both in Montevideo.
The Monumental stadium (43,000) and the Ester Roa de Concepción (33,000) correspond to Chile.
Most have to be remodeled to meet the demands of FIFA.
The 2030 venue is expected to be decided in September next year. The 2026 World Cup will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
For Europe, which hosted the World Cup for the last time in Russia 2018, Spain and Portugal have already applied. They were recently joined by Morocco.
It is also conjectured that Saudi Arabia could present an unprecedented plan that would involve three continents.
“It’s not just another birthday,” Domínguez insisted.
The CONMEBOL president publicly proposed to Infantino that the choice of South America be agreed upon with the other stakeholders.
“Through you, a dialogue table can be opened with all our peers because there is a place for everyone if we know how to order ourselves, especially if we know how to respect and give priority to history.”