The World's Game

The FIFA World Cup is the largest sporting event in the world, occurring every four years and pulling over 1.12 billion people tuning into the final, trophy deciding, match. The FIFA World Cup soccer tournament held its first rendition in 1930, being hosted by South American nation, Uruguay. Since that tournament, almost 90 years ago, tournaments have been hosted all over Asia, Europe, North and South America, but it had never been held in Africa till the 2010 edition which was hosted by South Africa. Till today, that was the only tournament which was hosted in Africa, however the 2026 version of the tournament saw Morocco come to the final vote before eventually losing out to a joint bid put out by the Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. The bid from Morocco would have resulted in them being only the second African nation to host the tournament, as well as being only the second Arab nation to host it, after Qatar in 2022.

Though Morocco ultimately did lose the bid, it would have been tough to win out in a bid against the U.S. since FIFA ultimately would be salivating at the revenue that another U.S. tournament would bring. Coming so close, one has to believe that another African hosted World Cup is around the corner. Largely due to how well the 2010 South African World Cup was run, in regards to preparations, safety, and fan atmosphere, the world surely sees many possible spots across the African continent which could host the event. Possible West African spots could include Ghana, Nigeria or Senegal. Maybe a North African joint bid that could see nations like Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia host the massive global sporting event, or possibly even a Rwanda hosted tournament, which could highlight its growth from conflict to the highly lauded and praised, progressive nation that it is today. Either way, thanks largely due to the success of South Africa’s hosting efforts, the FIFA World Cup will inevitably return to the continent, rehashing the fact that it is the World’s Game.