France eyes 2038 World Cup bid with Germany and Belgium as potential co-hosts

France wants to host the 2038 World Cup, one hundred years after the 1938 edition and forty years after 1998. Philippe Diallo, president of the French Football Federation, confirmed this ambition in an interview with Ouest-France, while emphasizing the need to partner with neighboring countries to meet FIFA requirements.

With a 48-team format, FIFA now requires at least sixteen large-capacity stadiums. France currently has only six stadiums exceeding 40,000 seats and meeting the required criteria: Stade de France, Vélodrome, Parc OL, Pierre-Mauroy, Parc des Princes, and Stade Atlantique. A co-host is therefore essential, and Germany, with a more extensive stadium infrastructure, appears as the natural partner.

The question of a third host country, Belgium, is also being raised. However, Belgium’s infrastructure record is currently very limited. Stade Roi Baudouin in Brussels, which has 50,000 seats on paper, remains outdated despite a renovation dating back to 1998. No Belgian stadium ranks among UEFA’s five-star stadiums, the threshold required to host a Ligue des Champions final.

The only project that could change this is Club de Bruges’s new stadium, construction of which has just begun with an opening planned for 2029. In the meantime, the club continues to play at Jan Breydel, the country’s second-largest stadium with only 29,000 seats.

France’s bid fits into an already busy global calendar: after the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the 2030 edition will be held in Spain, Morocco, and Portugal, with opening matches in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. The 2034 World Cup has been awarded to Saudi Arabia. Europe would therefore be in line for 2038, provided FIFA’s requirements are known and candidacies are formalized in due time.