South American countries’ hopes of hosting a World Cup again got a huge boost when both Football Association and government of the two nations announced that the two countries would bid to stage the 2030 FIFA World Cup.Uruguay's President Tabare Vazquez and Argentina's President Mauricio Macri pledged on Thursday to organise a joint bid to host the largest and most followed international football tournament.
The announcement was made following a meeting held in the Anchorena presidential estate in the Uruguayan city of Colonia.
"There is no better opportunity for us to commit to be joint hosts for that World Cup. We are many years out, but there are many things to plan and prepare ahead of time. Many times, we have faced problems in our history, due to a lack of planning," said Macri after a joint conference with Vazquez.
The official bidding process for 2030 is yet to begin. The tournament heads to Russia in 2018 before being staged in Qatar in 2022. FIFA will designate the hosts for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups in 2018.
Not just that, Macri and Vazquez also agreed to strengthen ties, through economic, sport and cultural exchanges. The visiting head of state told the press of the importance of planning this bid "well in advance", Xinhua news agency reported.
The year 2030 will mark a century since the first World Cup, which was held in Uruguay, with the country winning the title.
Uruguay hosted the first ever football World Cup in 1930 and went on to beat Argentina 4-2 in the final. Their players cried tears of joy as captain José Nasazzi became the first man to hold aloft football's most prestigious prize.Twenty years later in 1950 after the World War II, they won it for the second time, upsetting hosts Brazil 2-1 in the deciding match. Uruguay’s win inspired a new noun in Spanish, ‘Maracanazo’ literally meaning ‘ The Maracana Blow’ – used to signify the historic result.
On the other hand, Argentina hosted and won the tournament in 1978 amidts a huge scandal. Eight years later, Diego Maradona led them to their second title in Mexico. The 1986 World Cup is famous for one of football’s most iconic moments – ‘Hand of God’. Nonetheless, Maradona proved his brilliance beyond any doubt and led Argentina to a 3-2 final victory over the Germans. They have been runners up three times – 1930, 1990, and 2014.
