Former Spanish FA chief says Morocco agreed Spain would host 2030 World Cup final

Amid an ongoing exchange of statements between Morocco and Spain over which country will host the 2030 FIFA World Cup final, a tournament the two nations are co-hosting alongside Portugal, Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), has made fresh claims. He said he had reached an agreement with Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), under which Spain would host both the opening match and the final before the joint bid was officially submitted.

Speaking in an interview with Informa Radio, Rubiales said the deal reached during negotiations included conditions he considered non-negotiable in exchange for his approval of Morocco joining the joint bid.

According to Rubiales, the agreement also stipulated that Spain would host one of the two semi-finals and two quarter-final matches. He said this distribution of fixtures had been approved by all parties before the joint bid was formally announced.

The former RFEF chief insisted that these conditions were never open to negotiation, arguing that both Morocco and Portugal had been aware from the outset of Spain's position regarding the allocation of the tournament's most prestigious matches. He added that Morocco accepted the arrangement and that the agreement was confirmed verbally during a meeting at UEFA headquarters.

Rubiales said the meeting was attended by UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, then-Portuguese Football Federation president Fernando Gomes, Fouzi Lekjaa and himself.

He also criticized the decision to stage the opening match in South America, arguing that it undermined the original agreement reached between the three federations. According to Rubiales, the decision to award the opening game to the three South American countries as part of the centenary celebrations of the first FIFA World Cup was taken after he had left office. He blamed FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, saying they played a decisive role in altering the original plan.