The 11 venues that Spain will have for the 2030 World Cup have been confirmed, with some major headline absences. The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) had initially proposed 13 venues, but after it was decided that the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid would host the final, FIFA, the Ministry for Sport and RFEF have settled for 11, with the rest of the venues contributed by Morocco, Portugal, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.
Madrid is one of two cities to have two venues, with the Metropolitano also hosting games, and Barcelona having the RCDE Stadium and Camp Nou. Gran Canaria will host games in the Canary Islands, as the only venue off mainland Spain.
Andalusia will not have either of the Benito Villamarin or the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan hosting games, instead the RFEF opted for La Cartuja, also in Seville, and La Rosaleda in Malaga, confirm Marca.
Marca have released a video detailing the 11 host stadiums for the #2030WorldCup in Spain.
Mestalla, the Benito Villamarin and the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan all miss out. pic.twitter.com/LZyjaoEyAR
— Football España (@footballespana_) July 18, 2024
The Basque Country will have two venues, with the Reale Arena in Donostia-San Sebastian and San Mames in Bilbao both hosting. Elsewhere in the North, the Riazor in A Coruna and La Romareda in Zaragoza complete the list.
11 (Spanish) host stadiums named for 2030 World Cup
Bernabeu
Metropolitano
RCD Espanyol
Camp Nou
Gran Canaria
Reale Arena
San Mamés
Riazor
Romareda
Rosaleda
Cartuja— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) July 18, 2024
The headline absences are Mestalla (new or old) in Valencia, and Balaidos in Vigo: in both cases, guarantees that the stadiums would meet the requirements were not provided, with both undergoing work currently. Asturias probably has the other two biggest names to miss out in El Molinon and the Nuevo Carlos Tartiere in Gijon and Oviedo respectively.
No doubt for many it will stand out as anomalous that Valencia, Spain’s third-most populous city, has not been given stadium. Negotiations between the City Council and Valencia over the completion of Nou Mestalla have been ongoing for years, and even with the motivation of hosting the World Cup, they seem to have been unable to resolve those issues.
