Could the World Cup come to Swansea?

The news that the UK government is backing a bid by the Football Associations of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland) to bring the 2030 back to these shores could mean matches coming to Swansea for the very first time?

The competition – the flagship of the FIFA organisation – will expand to 48 teams from 2026 and will need grounds all around all five nations to be available for us and there will not be a massive amount of stadiums able to offer the facilities of the Liberty Stadium.

It will be clear that the showcase games will go to the National Stadiums of most of those associations but the grounds that host league football will be needed which will bring the Liberty and the Cardiff City Stadium to the fore as far as Wales is concerned.

Hearing the news that the UK government will this week commit funding to the feasibility study was well received by the Football Associations with a statement on the FAW website reading “The Football Associations (Wales, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland & Scotland) and government partners of the UK and Ireland are delighted that the UK Government has committed to support a prospective five-association bid for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

“The FA’s will continue to undertake feasibility work to assess the viability of a bid before FIFA formally open the process in 2022.

“Staging a FIFA World Cup would provide an incredible opportunity to deliver tangible benefits for our nations.

“If a decision is made to bid for the event, the FAs look forward to presenting our hosting proposals to FIFA and the wider global football community.”

The funding – reported at £2.8m will be announced in tomorrow’s budget with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying “We are very, very keen to bring football home in 2030, I do think it’s the right place. It’s the home of football, it’s the right time. It will be an absolutely wonderful thing for the country.

“We want to see a bonanza of football in the years ahead.”