World Cup 2035: Spain, Portugal and Italy.

[Verde-Rubro]

Apparently all three countries are in discussion to host the 2035 World Cup.

Could it work, held in 3 countries?

 

[Herman the German]

We could actually lean back and see, how it works in USA, CA and Mexico in football in 2026. 2030 then Portugal, Spain and Morocco plus some odd group stages matches in South America.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I'd love that

 

[die_mole]

All geographically tighter than the next two rugby world cups I'd imagine.

 

[BiggusLaddus]

That would be brilliant as long as Spain didn't get themselves DQd from their own world cup.

 

[O’Doyle Rules]

Just give it to Ireland FFS.

 

[saulan]

This would probably be the best attended World Cup by non-locals. Like the top 3 list of European tourist destinations. How relaxed are the football teams at their massive football stadiums being leveraged for rugby though?

 

[die_mole]

This would probably be the best attended World Cup by non-locals. Like the top 3 list of European tourist destinations. How relaxed are the football teams at their massive football stadiums being leveraged for rugby though?

I'd finally have a reason to go to camp nou and el bernabeu

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

It would be nice, but Italy are officially going to bid and they are big enough to host it themselves.

 

[spursindevon]

Would like to see it happen, along with one in Argentina and Uruguay

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Le Portugal et l'Espagne discutent d'une candidature pour organiser le Mondial 2035

Alors que la Coupe du monde de rugby 2023 touche à sa fin, le Portugal et l'Espagne auraient déjà entamé les discussions pour organiser le Mondial 2035. L'intention est sérieuse même si l'idée n'est encore...

www.rugbyrama.fr

 

[OldSchoolRugga]

Smaller nations hosting a Rugby World Cup ? 100% in favour.

 

[Yulia]

I would love to see the World Cup in Poland or Germany,but realistically I think Portugal is the best option
Maybe Georgia would be interesting as well,but most of fans just won't fly there I think

 

[Atmavictu]

It would be nice, but Italy are officially going to bid and they are big enough to host it themselves.

Italy financials are pretty bad, it would be unwise and unpopular to spend so much money to host a WC. Italy has really only 2-3 of ready stadia for a big tournament, most of them are old or haven't been reformed since the 90es. So the investment would be massive.

I'd say it would be great to have three med countries hosting.

I'd also love a Celtic World Cup, Ireland, Scotland and Welsh. they already have the stadia ready and tickets demand would be crazy.

 

[Yulia]

I'd also love a Celtic World Cup, Ireland, Scotland and Welsh. they already have the stadia ready and tickets demand would be crazy

Great idea.
I'd even say: maybe only in Ireland. They are all so sad and disappointed after their last match in this WC,so it would be great to give them WC 2035 (plus,they have lots of rugby fans there so no problems with ticket sale as you noticed)

 

[Atmavictu]

Great idea.
I'd even say: maybe only in Ireland. They are all so sad and disappointed after their last match in this WC,so it would be great to give them WC 2035 (plus,they have lots of rugby fans there so no problems with ticket sale as you noticed)

They don't have enough decent high capacity stadia for that. They definitely would need to add the millenium stadium in Cardiff and probably a couple of 50k quality stadia in Scotland. But they could host most games for sure!!!

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Could it work, held in 3 countries?

Could work, but I wouldn't like it. Not one bit.

 

[Atmavictu]

Could work, but I wouldn't like it. Not one bit.

why not? It is pretty standard these days to have competitions shared by different countries. It helps saving money and creates more demand for tickets.

 

[Yulia]

They don't have enough decent high capacity stadia for that.

Hm, didn't think about it. It's a pity then, but I would also prefer just one country instead of 2-3. Easier to travel and visit as much matches as you can during 1-2 week holiday

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Several reasons. In order for them to host all three of them would have to get a spot at the actual WC. That means one of 3 things.
Either
- they get someone else's spot (from Europe)
- Europe gets more spots
- The entire tourney gets more teams

In principle, I wouldn't object to the first one, but given Georgia's and Romania's state of affairs, I'd say no. I know, how the **** do I know what things will look like in 12 years. Well, I am using my best guess as an assumption.
I can see a strong argument for using a weak nation as a platform to spread the sport. If and only if that nation is strong enough to qualify for the World Cup. And having not one, but two nations in that position? Absolutely not. And as fantastic as the end of the WC has been for Portugal i don't see any reason to believe Spain and Portugal would be able to do that. Qualify I mean. Sure, they could, but who knows?
Europe getting more spots (out of the same total) means you're screwing someone else. Europe is overrepresented as it is. Who you're gonna cut? Namibia? Uruguay? Tonga?
And given the gap in level between teams i'd say making the pool bigger is something we should avoid. Seriously avoid. I m pretty sure the demand for games like Brazil vs New Zealand or Zimbabwe vs France wouldnt be that high and the results would be detrimental.

Another reason (EDIT: this is more my personal preference than a reason) is that i like it better when everything is close. If the country is too pick 2-3 cities and keep it there.
Ireland is perfect in that sense. Hard to achieve but if one country can do it let's keep it simple. For big countries keep it within 2-3 cities.

3rd: out of the 10 WCs to date, 5 have been held in Europe. One in Africa and zero in South America. Sure, the question becomes if that is possible and or desirable. I just find it weird that on one hand every four years we all talk about how great it is to have a global game and how we intend to help the game progress in Tier 2/3 regions and then we seal off the biggest two comps (6N and TRC) and host the world cup 50% in the same continent. Don't know, i'm not an expert, but that looks a LOT like preaching one thing and practicing another.

And from a commercial point of view, say you have

A: a group of countries that already has an ENORMOUS amount of tourism
and
B: countries that have quite interesting things to offer but don't have much tourism (relative-wise)

Are you sure you want to spend money promoting tourism on A? I am not sure that's the smart move. Maybe, but i'd like to see some numbers first.