Benfica, FC Porto and Sporting’s stadiums selected to host World Cup matches
The Luz, Dragão and Alvalade stadiums, home to Portugal’s football ‘Big Three’ (SL Benfica, FC Porto and Sporting CP), have been unsurprisingly confirmed as the Portuguese venues of the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
The announcement was made today (March 19) at Portugal’s Cidade do Futebol (City of Football) in Oeiras by Fernando Gomes, president of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF).
In his speech, Gomes thanked Benfica, FC Porto and Sporting for making their stadiums available for the World Cup, as well as the municipal councils of Porto and Lisbon. “Without them, and the other supporting entities and infrastructures, this project would not be possible,” the FPF boss said.
These three stadiums were the Portuguese frontrunners to host World Cup matches from the start, given that they are the largest national stadiums by far, with Estádio da Luz’s capacity set at nearly 65,000, followed by Estádio do Dragão and Estádio de Alvalade with nearly 50,000. All the other stadiums built specifically for the Euro 2004, which Portugal hosted, are limited to around 30,000 seats.
The 2030 FIFA World Cup will be hosted by Portugal, Spain and Morocco, with Argentina and Paraguay also due to host one match each. While it is still unclear how the matches will be divided between the host countries, one thing is certain: Portugal will not host the World Cup final. So said António Laranjo, coordinator of Portugal and Spain’s bid for the hosting of the 2030 World Cup, who is hopeful nonetheless that Portugal will at least host a semi-final match.
