FIFA World Cup hosts

1930 FIFA World Cup

Bids:

Before the FIFA Congress could vote on the first-ever World Cup host, a series of withdrawals led to the election of Uruguay; The Netherlands and Hungary withdrew; this was followed by Sweden withdrawing in favour of Italy; then both Italy and Spain withdrew, in favour of the only remaining candidate Uruguay. The FIFA Congress met in Barcelona, Spain on 18 May 1929 to ratify the decision, and Uruguay was chosen without a vote.

Results:

1.  Uruguay
2.  Italy withdrew
3.  Spain withdrew
4.  Sweden withdrew
5.  Netherlands withdrew
6.  Hungary withdrew

Notice that the celebration of the first World Cup coincided with the centennial anniversary of the first Constitution of Uruguay. For that reason, the main stadium built in Montevideo for the World Cup was named Estadio Centenario.

1934 FIFA World Cup

Bids:

Sweden decided to withdraw before the vote, allowing the only remaining candidate Italy to take the hosting job for the 1934 World Cup. The decision was ratified by the FIFA Congress in Stockholm, Sweden and Zürich, Switzerland on 14 May 1932. The Italian Football Federation accepted the hosting duties on 9 October 1932.

Results:

1.  Italy
2.  Sweden withdrew

1938 FIFA World Cup

Bids:

Without any nations withdrawing their bids before the vote, the FIFA Congress convened in Berlin, Germany on 13 August 1936 to decide the next host of the World Cup. Electing France took only one ballot, as France had more than half of the votes in the first round.

Results:

1.  France, 19 votes
2.  Argentina, 4 votes
3. Germany, 0 votes

Cancelled FIFA World Cups 1942 and 1946

Bids for 1942:

Cancelled election of the host due to the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939.

Bids for 1946:

1949 bid

Bid:

Brazil, Argentina, and Germany had official bid for the 1942 World Cup, but the Cup was cancelled after the outbreak of World War II. The 1950 World Cup was originally scheduled for 1949, but the day after Brazil was selected by the FIFA Congress on 26 July 1946 in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, the World Cup was rescheduled for 1950.

Result:

1.  Brazil

1954 bid

Bid:

The 1954 World Cup hosting duty was decided on 26 July 1946, the same day that Brazil was selected for the 1950 World Cup, in Luxembourg City. On 27 July, the FIFA Congress pushed back the 5th World Cup finals for three years, deciding it should take place in 1954.

Result:

1.   Switzerland

1958 FIFA World Cup

Bid:

Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Sweden expressed interest in hosting the tournament. Swedish delegates lobbied other countries at the FIFA Congress held in Rio de Janeiro around the opening of the 1950 World Cup finals. Sweden was awarded the 1958 tournament unopposed in on 23 June 1950.

Result:

1.  Sweden

1962 FIFA World Cup

Bids:

West Germany withdrew before the vote, which took place in Lisbon, Portugal on 10 June 1956, leaving two remaining bids. In one round of voting, Chile won over Argentina.

Results:

1.  Chile, 32 votes
2.  Argentina, 11 votes
3.  West Germany withdrew

1966 FIFA World Cup

Bids:

Spain withdrew from the bidding prior to voting by the FIFA Congress, held in Rome, Italy on 22 August 1960. Again, there was only one round of voting, with England defeating West Germany for the hosting position.

Results:

1.  England, 34 votes
2.  West Germany, 27 votes
3.  Spain withdrew

1970 FIFA World Cup

Bids:

The FIFA Congress convened in Tokyo, Japan on 8 October 1964. One round of voting saw Mexico win the hosting duties over Argentina.

Results:

1.  Mexico, 56 votes
2.  Argentina, 32 votes
3.  Australia withdrew
4.  Colombia withdrew
5.  Japan withdrew
6.  Peru withdrew

1974, 1978, 1982 FIFA World Cups

Three hosts for the 1974, 1978, and 1982 World Cups were chosen in London, England on 6 July 1966 by the FIFA Congress. Spain and West Germany, both facing each other in the running for hosting duties for the 1974 and 1982 World Cups, agreed to give one another a hosting job. Germany withdrew from the 1982 bidding process while Spain withdrew from the 1974 bidding process, essentially guaranteeing each a hosting spot. Mexico, who had won the 1970 hosting bid over Argentina just two years prior, agreed to withdraw and let Argentina take the hosting position.

1974 bids

1978 bids

1982 bids

1974 results

1.  West Germany
2.  Spain withdrew in exchange for 1982 hosting duties
3.  Italy withdrew
4.  Netherlands withdrew

1978 results

1.  Argentina
2.  Colombia withdrew
3.  Mexico withdrew, as they had won hosting for World Cup 1970

1982 results

1.  Spain
2.  West Germany withdrew in exchange for 1974 hosting duties
3.  Italy withdrew

1986 FIFA World Cup

Bid:

Host voting, handled by the then-FIFA Executive Committee (or Exco), met in Stockholm on 9 June 1974 and ratified the unopposed Colombian bid.

Result:

1.  Colombia

However, Colombia withdrew after being selected to host the World Cup due to financial problems on 5 November 1982, less than four years before the event was to start. A call for bids was sent out again, and FIFA received intent from three nations:

In Zürich on 20 May 1983, Mexico won the bidding unanimously as voted by the Executive Committee, for the first time in FIFA World Cup bidding history (except those nations who bid unopposed).

Results:

1.  Mexico unanimous vote
2.  United States 0 votes
3.  Canada 0 votes

1990 FIFA World Cup

Bids:

Except Italy and the Soviet Union, all nations withdrew before the vote, which was to be conducted by Exco in Zürich on 19 May 1984. Once again, only one round of voting was required, as Italy won more votes than the Soviet Union.

Results:

1.  Italy, 11 votes
2.  Soviet Union, 5 votes
3.  Austria withdrew
4.  England withdrew
5.  France withdrew
6.  Greece withdrew
7.  Iran withdrew
8.  West Germany withdrew
9.  Yugoslavia withdrew

1994 FIFA World Cup

Bids:

Despite having three nations bidding for host duties, voting only took one round. The vote was held in Zürich (for the third straight time) on 4 July 1988. The United States won the bid by receiving a little over half of the votes by the Exco members.

Results:

1.  United States, 10 votes
2.  Morocco, 7 votes
3.  Brazil, 2 votes
4.  Chile withdrew

1998 FIFA World Cup

Bids:

This vote was held in Zürich for the fourth straight time on 1 July 1992. Only one round of voting was required to have France assume the hosting job over Morocco.

Result:

1.  France, 12 votes
2.  Morocco, 7 votes
3.   Switzerland withdrew
4.  England withdrew
5.  Germany withdrew

2002 FIFA World Cup

Bids:

On 31 May 1996, the hosting selection meeting was held in Zürich for the fifth straight time. A joint bid was formed between Japan and South Korea, and the bid was "voted by acclamation", an oral vote without ballots. The first joint bid of the World Cup was approved, edging out Mexico.

Results:

1.  South Korea/ Japan (joint bid, voted by acclamation)
2.  Mexico

The 2002 FIFA World Cup was co-hosted in Asia for the first time by South Korea and Japan (the final was held in Japan). Initially, the two Asian countries were competitors in the bidding process. But just before the vote, they agreed with FIFA to co-host the event. However, the rivalry and distance between them led to organizational and logistical problems. FIFA has said that co-hosting is not likely to happen again, and in 2004 officially stated that its statutes did not allow co-hosting bids.

2006 FIFA World Cup

Bids:

On 6 July 2000, the host selection meeting was held for the sixth straight time in Zürich. Brazil withdrew its bid three days before the vote, and the field was narrowed to four. This was the first selection in which more than one vote round was required. Three votes were eventually needed. Germany was at least tied for first in each of the three votes, and ended up defeating South Africa by only one vote after an abstention (see below).

Controversy

The controversy over the decision to award the 2006 FIFA World Cup to Germany led to a further change in practice. The final tally was 12 votes to 11 in favour of Germany over the contenders South Africa, who had been favorites to win. New Zealand FIFA member Charlie Dempsey, who was instructed to vote for South Africa by the Oceania Football Confederation, abstained from voting at the last minute. If he had voted for the South African bid, the tally would have been 12–12, giving the decision to FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who, it was widely believed, would then have voted for South Africa.

Dempsey was among eight members of the Executive Committee to receive a fax by editors of the German satirical magazine Titanic on Wednesday, the night before the vote, promising a cuckoo clock and Black Forest ham in exchange for voting for Germany. He argued that the pressure from all sides including "an attempt to bribe" him had become too much for him.

On 4 August 2000, consequently, FIFA decided to rotate the hosting of the final tournaments between its constituent confederations. This was until October 2007, during the selection of the host for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, when they announced that they will no longer continue with their continental rotation policy (see below).

2010 FIFA World Cup

Bids:

The first World Cup bidding process under continental rotation (the process of rotating hosting of the World Cup to each confederation in turn) was the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the first World Cup to be held in Africa. On 7 July 2001, during the FIFA Congress in Buenos Aires, a decision was ratified, which was that the rotation will begin in Africa. On 23 September 2002, FIFA's Executive Committee confirmed that only African member associations, would be invited to submit bids to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

In January 2003, Nigeria entered the bidding process, but withdrew their bid in September. In March 2003, Sepp Blatter initially said Nigeria's plan to co host the 2010 FIFA World Cup with four African countries would not work. Nigeria had originally hoped to bid jointly with West African neighbours Benin, Ghana, and Togo.

After it was confirmed by FIFA that joint bidding would not be allowed in the future, Libya and Tunisia withdrew both of their bids on 8 May 2004. On 15 May 2004 in Zürich (the seventh consecutive time that a host selection has been made there), South Africa, after a narrow loss in the 2006 bidding, defeated perennial candidate Morocco to host, 14 votes to 10. Egypt received no votes.

Controversy

On 28 May 2015, media covering the 2015 FIFA corruption case reported that high-ranking officials from the South African bid committee had secured the right to host the World Cup by paying US $10 million in bribes to then-FIFA Vice President Jack Warner and to other FIFA Executive Committee members.

On 4 June 2015, FIFA executive Chuck Blazer, having co-operated with the FBI and the Swiss authorities, confirmed that he and the other members of FIFA's executive committee were bribed in order to promote the South African 1998 and 2010 World Cups. Blazer stated, "I and others on the Fifa executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup."

On 6 June 2015, The Daily Telegraph reported that Morocco had received the most votes, but South Africa was awarded the tournament instead.

2014 FIFA World Cup

Bids:

FIFA continued its continental rotation procedure by earmarking the 2014 World Cup for South America. FIFA initially indicated that it might back out of the rotation concept, but later decided to continue it through the 2014 host decision, after which it was dropped.

Colombia had expressed interest in hosting the 2014 World Cup, but withdrew undertaking the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Brazil also expressed interest in hosting the World Cup. CONMEBOL, the South American Football Federation, indicated their preference for Brazil as a host. Brazil was the only nation to submit a formal bid when the official bidding procedure for CONMEBOL member associations was opened in December 2006, as by that time, Colombia, Chile and Argentina had already withdrawn, and Venezuela was not allowed to bid.

Brazil made the first unopposed bid since the initial selection of the 1986 FIFA World Cup (when Colombia was selected as host, but later withdrew for financial problems). The FIFA Executive Committee confirmed it as the host country on 30 October 2007 by a unanimous decision.

Result:

2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups

FIFA announced on 29 October 2007 that it will no longer continue with its continental rotation policy, implemented after the 2006 World Cup host selection. The newest host selection policy is that any country may bid for a World Cup, provided that their continental confederation has not hosted either of the past two World Cups. For the 2018 World Cup bidding process, this meant that bids from Africa and South America were not allowed.

For the 2022 World Cup bidding process, this meant that bids from South America and Europe were not allowed. Also, FIFA formally allowed joint bids once more (after they were banned in 2002), due to there being only one organizing committee per joint bid, unlike Korea/Japan, which had two different organizing committees. Countries that announced their interest included Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Qatar, Russia, South Korea, United States, the joint bid of Spain and Portugal and the joint bid of Belgium and Netherlands.

The hosts for both World Cups were announced by the FIFA Executive Committee on 2 December 2010. Russia was selected to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, making it the first time that the World Cup will be hosted in Eastern Europe and making it the biggest country geographically to host the World Cup. Qatar was selected to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, making it the first time a World Cup will be held in the Middle East and the second time in Asia. Also, the decision made it the smallest country geographically to host the World Cup.

Accusations of bribery

Before the vote, allegations of bribery resulted in the suspension of two FIFA Executive Committee members, reducing the number of voters to 22.

In May 2011, allegations of corruption within the FIFA senior officials raised questions over the legitimacy of the World Cup being held in Qatar. According to then vice-President Jack Warner, an email has been publicised about the possibility that Qatar 'bought' the 2022 World Cup through bribery via Mohammed bin Hammam who was president of the Asian Football Confederation at the time. Qatar's officials in the bid team for 2022 have denied any wrongdoing.

A whistleblower, revealed to be Phaedra Almajid, alleged that several African officials were paid $1.5 million by Qatar. She later retracted her claims of bribery, stating she had fabricated them in order to exact revenge on the Qatari bid team for relieving her of her job with them. She also denied being put under any pressure to make her retraction. FIFA confirmed receiving an email from her which stated her retraction.

On 1 June 2014, The Sunday Times claimed to have obtained documents including e-mails, letters and bank transfers which allegedly proved that Bin Hammam had paid more than US$5 million to football officials to support the Qatar bid. Bin Hamman and all those accused of accepting bribes denied the charges

More suspicions emerged in March 2014 when it was discovered that Jack Warner, who was made to leave his post as president of CONCACAF in disgrace, and his family were paid almost $2 million from a firm linked to Qatar's successful campaign. The FBI is investigating Warner and his alleged links to the Qatari bid.

2026 FIFA World Cup

A CONCACAF bid for the 2026 World Cup is probable, with Canada, USA, and Mexico the most likely nations to bid. Under FIFA rules as of 2013, the 2026 Cup cannot be in either Europe or Asia, leaving an African bid, a North American bid, a South American bid or an Oceania bid as other possible options. However, at the FIFA Congress held on 30 May 2015 in Zürich, that decision changed, prohibiting only bids from Asia and allowing everyone else to bid.

The bidding process was originally scheduled to start in 2015, with the appointment of hosts scheduled for the FIFA Congress on 10 May 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. On 10 June 2015, FIFA announced that the bid process for the 2026 FIFA World Cup was postponed. However, following the FIFA Council meeting on 10 May 2016, a new bid schedule was announced for May 2020 as the last in a four-phase process.

CONCACAF member federations (Canada, Mexico, United States) are favoured to host the 2026 World Cup for the first time since 1994 World Cup. Also, FIFA's president Infantino will consider the option for triple co-hosting by Canada, Mexico and the United States. On 14 October 2016, FIFA said it will accept CONCACAF triple tournament-sharing bid by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

According to CONCACAF president, Victor Montagliani, there would be a possibility of a joint bid between Canada, United States, and Mexico to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Confirmed 2026 Bids:

2030 FIFA World Cup

Six early bids for the 2030 FIFA World Cup have been proposed, with a collective bid from the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a proposed bid by the Football Federation of Chile, a proposed joint bid from Uruguay and Argentina, a proposed bid from Colombia, a proposed bid from England, and a proposed joint bid from New Zealand and Australia.

The Uruguay–Argentina bid would coincide with the centennial anniversary of the first FIFA World Cup in Uruguay and the bicentennial of the first Constitution of Uruguay.

England FA vice president David Gill has proposed that his country could potentially bid for 2030, provided that the bidding process is made more transparent. "England is one of few countries that could stage even a 48-nation event in its entirety, while Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn made it clear earlier this year bidding for 2030 was an option."

Unconfirmed 2030 Bids:

Total bids by country

World Cup-winning bids are bolded. Planned but not-yet-official bids for 2026 and beyond are not included.

Host country performances

It is widely considered that home advantage is common in the World Cup, with the host team usually performing above average. Of the eight countries that have won the tournament, only Brazil and Spain were not champions at home, and both England and France had their only titles as hosts.

Further, Sweden got to its only final as hosts of the 1958 tournament, and only the Swedes and Brazilians finished as runner-up in home soil. The host country reached the semifinals thirteen times in twenty tournaments, and both Chile and South Korea had their only finishes on the top four at home. Only South Africa in 2010 managed to not go past the group stage.