2030 World Cup Final: Senegal backs Morocco against Spain

Senegalese Football Federation president Abdoulaye Fall has thrown his official support behind Morocco in the battle against Spain to host the 2030 World Cup final. The move is all the more notable as it comes while the two federations are locked in a legal dispute over the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final.

“Morocco has all the necessary infrastructure to host the World Cup final, and it will be a victory for all of Africa,” Fall said, according to Afrik Foot. The Senegalese official is pushing for a second World Cup final to be played on the African continent, following the one held in Johannesburg in 2010.

At the heart of this competition between the two bids, two stadiums are facing off: the future Grand Stade Hassan II in Benslimane, near Casablanca, with a planned capacity of 115,000 seats that would make it one of the world’s largest venues, and the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. Madrid’s mayor, José Luis Martinez-Almeida, himself acknowledged that “Casablanca has more chances,” a statement that reinforces arguments put forward for several months by Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation.

Fall’s support takes on particular significance given the context between the two federations. The Court of Arbitration for Sport confirmed this week that the hearing on the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final dispute will be held on October 8. The CAF Appeals Jury had awarded the title to Morocco on March 18, a decision that Senegal contested before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Despite this open disagreement, the FSF chief is choosing to separate the two matters and publicly defend Morocco’s candidacy for the World Cup final.