SIX TEAMS HAVE ALREADY QUALIFIED FOR THE 2030 WORLD CUP DUE TO UNIQUE FIFA RULE

The winners of the World Cup will not qualify automatically for the next tournament

Spain absolutely battering Argentina in the World Cup final isn’t the reason why they will automatically qualify for the next tournament in 2030.

Six host nation countries have already secured their places in the next World Cup.

The tournament's three main co-hosts, Spain, Portugal and Morocco, as well as Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will automatically qualify for the next edition in four years time.

FIFA’s 2030 competition will be held from Saturday, 8 June to Sunday, 21 July, with the opening three matches taking place in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.

These South American countries have been chosen to play first to commemorate 100 years of the World Cup, which was hosted and won by Uruguay in 1930.

Where will the opening 2030 World Cup game be played?

Spain were the best team in the tournament by a mile (Carl Recine/Getty Images)

The opening game will be held at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which boasts a capacity of 100,000.

Estadio Osvaldo Dominguez Dibb, a brand new venue in Paraguay, and the Montevideo in Uruguay will also host opening matches.

After those three games, the World Cup will shift to the Northern Hemisphere in 18 stadiums across Spain, Morocco and Portugal.

Ugly scenes at full-time (Marvin Ibo Guengoer - GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)

It comes after FIFA boss Gianni Infantino wants to controversially expand the World Cup to a 64-team tournament in 2030 following the success of the expanded 48-team competition this year.

"These are all issues that we will be examining after the World Cup," Infantino told Blue Sport.

"When organising a World Cup, it's important to organise it for the whole world - not just Europe and South America, but effectively the entire world. Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup.

"You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high, and it's getting higher and higher, all over the world. If you don't give smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they'll lack the incentive to keep improving."

No Messi or Ronaldo

The end of an era (Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images)

Sadly, the squads of host nations Argentina and Portugal are unlikely to include the two greatest players of all time in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

After Spain’s convincing 1-0 final, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni was full of praise for Messi: “He is 39 years old, it is unbelievable. It was always crystal clear to me that he would play until he chose to stop and that everyone would support him.

“I hope everyone is proud of him, because he is the best football player ever to set foot on a pitch.”

Both Messi and Ronaldo are yet to comment officially on their international futures.

On the result, Scaloni added: “I feel sadness but knowing that we left everything out there.

“I have a lot of things to say about how we got here, but it’s not worth it.

“I want to thank these guys eternally for giving us another World Cup final and for competing until the end. They were better, that’s the truth.

“But I’ll hold on to an enormous memory of what they have done, of what it’s worth to get this far. We have to give it huge validity because it takes a lot to get here.”

Featured Image Credit: Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images

- Anish Vij

COPA LEBERATADORES FINAL | 1962

1962🏆Copa Libertadores Final, Playoff

🏟Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires: 60,000

🇧🇷Santos–🇺🇾Peñarol 3-0

1-0 Caetano 11' (o.g.)

3-0 Pelé 48', 89'

#SantosFC

POPE FRANCIS WAS A CARD-CARRYING SOCCER FAN. AND A PROMOTER OF THE VALUES IN SPORTS

Vatican Obit Pope Francis
FILE - Argentine soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona, left, greets Pope Francis in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Monday, Sept. 1, 2014. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

ROME (AP) — From meetings with Diego Maradona to the passion for his beloved Buenos Aires club, San Lorenzo, Pope Francis was an avid soccer fan. And a promoter of sports in general.

Francis died Monday at 88 and the soccer and sports world immediately paid homage.

All sports events scheduled for Monday in Italy were postponed to mourn Francis, including four top-flight soccer matches. A minute of silence will be observed before all sports events this week, the Italian Olympic Committee said.

“Italian soccer joins in the mourning of millions of people following the death of Pope Francis. He was a great example of Christian caring and dignity in the face of suffering and he was always attentive to the sports world and particularly soccer, of which he was a fan,” said Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina. “He will always remain in the hearts of the faithful and lovers of soccer.”

Vatican Obit Pope Francis
FILE - Pope Francis twirls a soccer ball he was presented by a member of the Circus of Cuba, during his weekly general audience in the Pope Paul VI hall, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, file) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Francis’ passion for soccer became known almost immediately after he was elected pope in 2013 when San Lorenzo tweeted a photo of him holding up the club’s crest. He was even a card-carrying member of the club, with San Lorenzo ID No. 88,235.

San Lorenzo is nicknamed “the Saints.”

In Italy, there were also suggestions that Francis supported Juventus since his family came from the Piedmont region where the Turin club is based. Francis' father, Mario Bergoglio, was a basketball player.

San Lorenzo, one of the oldest teams in the Argentine Football Association, performed well after Francis was elected as the 266th pope in March 2013. The team won a national title in 2013 and then claimed the South American Copa Libertadores for the first time a year later. Club officials traveled twice to the Vatican carrying trophies to thank Francis for his support.

A planned new San Lorenzo stadium is to be named for Francis.

During a meeting with the Argentina and Italy national teams shortly after he was elected, Francis noted the influence of athletes, especially on youth, and told the players to remember that, “for better or worse” they are role models. “Dear players, you are very popular. People follow you, and not just on the field but also off it,” he said. “That’s a social responsibility.”

Vatican Obit Pope Francis
FILE - Pope Francis blesses faithfuls as he arrives to celebrate the Mass of Assumption of Mary at Daejeon World Cup stadium in Daejeon, South Korea, Friday, Aug. 15, 2014. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, file) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Francis met his fellow Argentine Maradona twice as pope. There was a special audience in connection with a charity soccer match in 2014 when Maradona presented the pontiff with a soccer jersey, emblazoned with the name “Francisco” — Spanish for Francis — and Maradona’s No. 10.

“I think we all now realize he’s a (star),” Maradona said after another meeting in 2015. “I’m Francis’ top fan.”

When Maradona died in 2020, Francis remembered the soccer great in his prayers.

Francis often hailed sports as a way to promote solidarity and inclusion, especially for young people.

During a global conference on faith and sport in 2016, Francis implored leaders to do a better job of keeping corruption off the playing field and said sports must be protected from manipulations and commercial abuse.

“Francis was a special pope, able to illuminate in his time like only the greatest can,” Gianluigi Buffon, the former captain of Italy’s national soccer team who met the pope on multiple occasions, said on Instagram. “He showed us the way with great courage and moved our souls. I will carry his example forever in my heart.”

- ANDREW DAMPF, AP Soccer 

BUENOS AIRES HIGHLIGHTS | FINAL

 

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BUENOS AIRES HIGHLIGHTS | DAY 4

BEUNOS AIRES HIGHLIGHTS | SEMI-FINALS