Morocco has warned Spain that attempts to turn the 2030 World Cup into a political weapon will not succeed, after Spanish lawmakers called for the country to be expelled from the tournament's organizing committee.
Parliamentary groups from VOX, Sumar and Podemos have proposed removing Morocco from the trio of countries, alongside Spain and Portugal, set to host the 2030 World Cup. The push follows recent migratory events in Ceuta, with the groups citing what they called attacks on national sovereignty and doubts about Morocco's capacity to host the tournament.
Moroccan officials rejected the campaign, saying the joint bid from Spain, Portugal and Morocco, selected by FIFA, remains a solid project despite attempts by certain political sectors to undermine the Kingdom's role.
Spanish government backs Morocco
The Spanish government distanced itself from the exclusion requests. Digital Transformation Minister Óscar López said Spain had presented a bid together with Portugal and Morocco that won, and that the government was now working to make the World Cup a success, ruling out any scenario that did not include Morocco.
Morocco's position is bolstered by heavy investment. The Moroccan government has mobilized 20 billion dollars in railway, road, airport and hotel infrastructure ahead of the tournament.
At the center of that push is the Grand Stadium Hassan II, being built on the outskirts of Casablanca and due for completion by the end of 2027. With capacity for 115,000 spectators, it will surpass every stadium in Spain and Portugal, becoming the largest in the world and a natural venue for the tournament's most important matches, including the final.
"We are the key to success"
Moroccan media have pointed out that a joint Spanish-Portuguese bid alone failed to win the right to host the World Cup in 2018 and 2022, when the tournaments went to Russia and Qatar. They said Morocco's inclusion was the key to that success, adding the complementary appeal of a project joining two continents, and that its growing prominence reinforces the joint bid rather than diminishing its partners' strengths.
Former Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales made a similar point in an interview with Marca, saying that without Morocco, Spain and Portugal would never have hosted the World Cup because they lacked the votes and it would have been impossible.
How Sánchez brought Morocco into the bid
Morocco's place in the 2030 organizing trio traces back to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. According to Onda Cero, Spain initially planned to bid alone, before the government decided to join forces with Portugal in what became known as an Iberian alliance, partly because the 2026 World Cup was set to have three host countries.
The alliance grew further at the end of 2018, when Sánchez met King Mohammed VI during an official visit to Rabat and publicly announced he had proposed a joint bid between Spain, Portugal and Morocco for the 2030 World Cup. Sánchez said the plan was to build a joint bid among three countries from two different continents, Europe and Africa, in order to unite, build bridges and cooperate.
The bid remained unresolved until 2023, when King Mohammed VI officially announced that Morocco would present the joint bid with Spain and Portugal for the 2030 World Cup, a move the Royal Spanish Football Federation corroborated hours later.
Sánchez was therefore the figure who brought Morocco into the tournament's organization, and he is now the same figure declining to pursue Morocco's expulsion before FIFA.
