Stars Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are set to offer their backing to a joint bid from Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay to host the 2030 centenary World Cup, bid organisers told AFP.
“Messi will join us in this initiative, and Suarez certainly,” Fernando Marin, the joint bid co-ordinator, told AFP on Monday.
“We told him (Messi) about our aims, and he feels it’s doable.”
Argentina’s minister of sport Carlos Mac Alister said “it’s important to know we have the support” of such high-profile players as Argentina’s five-time world player of the year Messi and Uruguay striker Suarez.
“In 2030, we won’t be there any more, Messi will.”
“He showed great desire to help us. He will surely be the flag-bearer for the World Cup.”
The very first World Cup in 1930 was held in Uruguay and won by the hosts, who beat Argentina 4-2 in a memorable final at the Centenary Stadium in Montevideo.
Paraguay were also one of the 13 participants, but the World Cup has grown immeasurably since then and now features 32 teams, although that number will rise to 48 at the 2026 World Cup.
In 1930 there were 18 matches, but that will become 80 in a 48-team tournament, making it far more difficult for a single nation to host alone.
Before then the World Cup will be held in Russia later this year and then Qatar in 2022. The bid city for the 2026 edition has yet to be decided.
The joint bid has the support of the heads of state of the three countries, all of whom were president of a football club before leading their country.
FIFA committee begins tour of North America 2026 bid
A FIFA evaluation committee launched a five-day inspection tour of the United States, Canada and Mexico on Monday as the bidding battle for the 2026 World Cup enters the home straight.
With just over two months to go before the vote that will decide the hosts for the finals in eight years time, the FIFA delegation kicked off its North American visit in Mexico City.
The delegation will inspect an array of proposed facilities for the 2026 World Cup, including stadiums, training facilities and potential team base camps.
FIFA officials will visit Atlanta, Toronto, New York and New Jersey during the trip, which wraps up on Friday.
The North American joint bid is widely seen as the front-runner for the 2026 race, with Morocco the only other candidate for the expanded 48-team tournament.
The US-Mexico-Canada bid has made an array of already-existing, modern stadiums the centre-piece of its bid, a key consideration for FIFA chiefs anxious to avoid
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