Under the reported schedule, 104 matches would be played, with 101 staged across 20 stadiums in the three principal hosts. The remaining three centenary fixtures would take place in Montevideo, Buenos Aires and Asunción.
That balance gives the tournament a defined operational centre. Spain, Portugal and Morocco would handle almost the entire competition, while South America would host the symbolic opening chapter rather than a substantial portion of the group stage.
Uruguay’s role carries obvious meaning. The country hosted and won the first World Cup in 1930, with Argentina finishing as runners-up. Returning to Montevideo for the centenary would connect the modern tournament to its origin without shifting the whole event back to South America.
The report says Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay would also receive automatic places alongside Spain, Portugal and Morocco. That would give six host nations guaranteed qualification, even though three of them would stage only one match each.
The format would remain the expanded 48-team version, divided into 12 groups of four before a last-32 knockout round. That structure makes the host allocation especially significant: automatic places occupy a larger share of the field than they did in previous editions.
The sporting challenge is not only venue capacity. Teams and supporters would face an intercontinental opening before settling into the main tournament cluster. The three South American matches would represent only a small fraction of the schedule, but they would create the largest geographical jump of the competition.
The next major storyline will be whether the reported plan can convert its symbolism into a workable calendar, with venue readiness, travel planning and fixture sequencing likely to shape the final version of the 2030 World Cup.