Moroccan ambition
According to the Moroccan Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts, Social Economy and Solidarity, Ms. Fatim-Zahra Ammor, the country has added about 45,000 hotel beds in the past four years as the number of international tourists and air connectivity continues to grow.
In 2025, this African country welcomed a record number of 19.8 million tourists, an increase of 14% compared to the previous year, and set a target of attracting 26 million tourists per year by 2030. Tourism contributes about 7% to Morocco's gross domestic product and is a major source of job creation and foreign currency earnings.
Ms. Ammor said that Morocco considers the FIFA World Cup 2030 as a catalyst for long-term tourism development rather than a simple sporting event.
Before the tournament, Morocco is investing more than 190 billion dirham (about 20 billion USD) in railways, highways, airports, stadiums and other infrastructure projects.
The government also plans to expand tourism beyond traditional destinations such as Marrakech and Agadir, attracting more tourists from China, the US and the Middle East by improving air connectivity.
Things to know about FIFA World Cup 2030
The 2030 World Cup is mainly held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. But to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the World Cup, there will be three separate opening matches held in Uruguay (host and the first World Cup champion), Argentina (the first World Cup runner-up) and Paraguay (where the headquarters of the South American Football Federation CONMEBOL is located).
South America was chosen as the venue for the 100th anniversary celebration because the 1930 World Cup was held in Uruguay, and most of the teams from this continent competed, with 7 out of 13 teams from the CONMEBOL federation.
If organized according to plan, the 2030 tournament will mark the first World Cup where matches will be held across three continents and in six countries.
This also means that 6 teams have won tickets to participate in the next World Cup, in which Spain became the first defending champion to host the world's biggest football tournament.
The 2030 World Cup is scheduled to take place from June 8 to July 21, 2030. The final match venue has not yet been decided, and the official host cities of the tournament will also be approved by the end of 2026.
The current proposal is that the 2030 tournament will continue to have the participation of 48 teams. However, the International Federation of Association Football FIFA is said to be considering expanding the number of teams participating in the next tournament to 64 teams.
If FIFA hosts the 2030 World Cup with 64 participating teams, the number of matches will increase to at least 128 matches, compared to 104 matches in 2026.
