Casablanca has spent years lobbying to stage football’s biggest single fixture at its new 115,000-seat ground, a venue expected to become the largest football stadium in the world once complete. According to a report in The Times, the FIFA president has privately assured Moroccan officials the match will be played there rather than at a Spanish venue, in return for their public support against calls for him to step aside.

The claim surfaced on 5 August, while Infantino was already in Morocco. FIFA confirmed that the president had convened its senior leadership in Rabat that Wednesday, in a gathering the governing body described as “constructive and positive”.

FIFA calls it “false and misleading”

FIFA moved within hours to deny the report.

“It is false and misleading to claim the FIFA President has made any promise in relation to hosting the FIFA World Cup 2030 Final. A decision will be made by FIFA in due course.”

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A separate line from the FIFA secretariat, released after the Rabat meeting, said management board members present had “reaffirmed their full support” for Infantino.

Spain digs in

Where the final is played has not been decided. The tournament itself is being staged jointly by Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with three opening matches in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay to mark a century since the first World Cup.

Spanish football federation president Rafael Louzán has insisted the fixture belongs on Spanish soil.

“Spain has a proven organisational capacity over many years, and therefore Spain is going to be the one to lead that World Cup 2030 and where the final of the tournament will be played.”

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Louzán, speaking on 7 August, also took a swipe at Morocco’s record as host, pointing to organisational problems at the Africa Cup of Nations and warning that such episodes “harm the image of world football”.

Spain’s sports minister, Milagros Tolón, made the same point.

“We are the reigning men’s and women’s World Cup champions, and Spain and Portugal spearheaded the bid for the 2030 World Cup, which Morocco later joined. We have many advantages and strengths as a country.”

Seven months from the Rabat vote

The FIFA presidential election is scheduled for 18 March 2027, and the venue is Rabat. Infantino is chasing a fourth term.

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He is doing so from a weaker position than a year ago. UEFA has voted to boycott FIFA competitions in protest at his failed plan to sell a stake of FIFA’s commercial operations to private investors, and the English and Welsh federations have withdrawn their backing for his candidacy. Confederations do not control how their member associations vote, however; each of FIFA’s 211 members casts its own ballot, and support in Africa and Asia has held up.

Morocco’s Football Federation, whose backing the report casts as pivotal, has not commented publicly on the allegation.

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