South Korea Proposes Joint '30 World Cup Bid In Northeast Asia

South Korea President Moon Jae-in has "proposed that the rival Koreas and other Northeast Asian countries co-host" the '30 FIFA World Cup. The President "made the offer" this morning during a meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino. He said that such an event would "contribute to establishing peace among the two Koreas and in Northeast Asia" (AP, 6/12).

Canadian Soccer Association President Steve Reed yesterday said that interested hosts for the '26 World Cup "have until mid-August to challenge" the North American bid. The proposed joint bid would see Canada and Mexico "hosting just 10 fixtures each." CSA General Secretary Peter Montopoli said, “We’d like to see that we could (host World Cup games) in four cities." He added that multiple Canadian mayors "expressed interest in hosting games." FIFA "requires men’s tournaments to be played on natural grass in stadiums with at least 40,000 seats" (TORONTOSUN.com, 6/12).