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CASABLANCA, Morocco: Morocco and Spain are arguing over the right to host the 2030 World Cup final \u2014 with besieged FIFA boss Gianni Infantino hovering backstage.<\/p>\n
FIFA has yet to officially announce which country will host the biggest match of the biggest event in soccer. And even though the 2026 edition just finished with Spain winning the title this summer, Moroccan and Spanish officials are staking their claim on the next final.<\/p>\n
The tussle over the soccer match also comes with Spain still reeling from a massive border crossing by tens of thousands of migrants who pushed through the frontier from Morocco into the north African Spanish enclave in late July.<\/p>\n
One big game for two proud countries<\/strong><\/p>\n The head of Moroccan soccer boasted that his country had it locked up on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city of Benslimane will host the World Cup final. Hate it or love it, and if anyone wants to talk on top of that, let them talk,\u201d Moroccan federation president Fouzi Lakjaa told a political rally.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city is Benslimane, the Hassan II stadium is the stadium, and I hope that Morocco will be playing it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n This week, the head of the Spanish soccer federation, Rafael Louz\u00e1n, insisted it was Spain that deserved the game, while acknowledging that it has not been guaranteed that honor.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all signed to accept the candidacy \u2026 it\u2019s too bad that, regarding the final, it wasn\u2019t made clear, totally clear, where it is to be played,\u201d Louz\u00e1n said. \u201cSpain, as world champion both in men\u2019s and women\u2019s soccer, must host the final.\u201d<\/p>\n European soccer officials believe that the sprawling, multi-nation 2030 event, which includes Portugal and even a handful of games in South America, should be considered a European event with the final on the continent.<\/p>\n In a request for comment by the Associated Press on Thursday, FIFA said its decision will be made \u201cin due course.\u201d<\/p>\n Infantino has found support in Morocco<\/strong><\/p>\n The dispute over the final comes with Infantino under intense pressure after UEFA, the umbrella organization of European soccer federations, led a successful revolt to scuttle his plan to sell stakes in the World Cup.<\/p>\n By contrast, six Arab nation federations, including Morocco\u2019s, have backed him since that fiasco.<\/p>\n The King Hassan II Stadium near Casablanca is being built in Benslimane, on the outskirts of Casablanca. It is planned to seat 115,000 spectators. Spain can offer the home stadiums of Real Madrid or Barcelona as potential sites for the final.<\/p>\n Infantino has recently made two trips to Morocco, meeting with King Mohammed VI during annual celebrations of his ascent to the throne in July and then holding a FIFA crisis meeting there in August.<\/p>\n World Cup final spat among other tensions<\/strong><\/p>\n When confirmed three years ago, the joint candidacy between Spain, Portugal and Morocco looked like a perfect event to bridge Europe and Africa and strengthen bonds between the western Mediterranean neighbors.<\/p>\n But the dispute over the final comes with diplomatic tensions between Madrid and Rabat already frayed over who was responsible when tens of thousands of mostly Moroccans driven by posts on social media pushed into the small Spanish enclave of Ceuta that borders Morocco. Spain\u2019s prime minister said 140 people died in the crossing.<\/p>\n Spain\u2019s government has been under political pressure at home to get tough on Morocco, which it has said acted in good faith in the border crisis. Spanish police assessments couldn\u2019t rule out complicity by Moroccan security forces but said that it was unlikely the Moroccan government had intentionally orchestrated it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n