In a significant development for the upcoming 2030 World Cup, FIFA has officially confirmed that Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina will receive automatic qualifying spots for the tournament. These three South American nations will also jointly host the opening games of the competition.
Initially, FIFA had announced on Wednesday that only Morocco, Portugal, and Spain would be granted automatic qualification for the 2030 World Cup. However, a new announcement made on Thursday has expanded the list of automatic qualifiers to include Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
It means that in a tournament that will have already expanded from 32 teams to 48 teams for the 2026 finals, “three of the six places” attributed to the South American zone in 2030 will be taken, a FIFA spokesman said.
A South American team will also have the chance to qualify in a playoff with a team from another continent.
