Gareth Southgate says he fears for the sporting integrity of the three-continent World Cup in 2030. Fifa announced on Wednesday that the tournament had been awarded to Spain, Portugal and Morocco but that Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay would host the opening three matches.
Southgate said he was “not sure what they’ve got in mind for that” and joked he would surely be well out of his job as the England manager by then. “I should enjoy an invite to Buenos Aires as a TV pundit if that’s the plan,” he said, smiling, too, about how he was looking forward to Argentina’s Malbec wine.
Southgate pulled no punches with his concerns when he took a deeper, more analytical look. Fifa has indicated that it will factor in rest and recovery time after the ties in South America.
Spain’s acting sports minister, Miquel Iceta, said on Thursday that the final would probably be held in his country, although within hours the head of Morocco’s football federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, revealed the goal was for it to be in Casablanca. Also on Thursday Argentinian officials said the country would “go for more” games than the single match allocated.
“My big thing is I don’t quite get the integrity of the competition,” Southgate said. “You would have to play one game … I’d need to see it all laid out but my understanding is three matches played in South America, then those teams have to travel across the globe, change timezone again, and pick up the competition with home advantage in one part of the group and not another part.
“I know we had that a little bit with the last Euros but that would seem quite disjointed and [a] different landscape for different teams in different groups. So from what I’ve seen, I’m not a fan.
“Argentina in Buenos Aires would not be great. Logically, you could play Argentina in Buenos Aires and have to travel back. There is a big difference between playing Argentina in Buenos Aires and playing them in Casablanca. That is a significant change to the competition.”
Goalkeepers Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Defenders Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (Milan), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Jordan Henderson (Al-Ettifaq), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City), Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Forwards Jarrod Bowen (West Ham) Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), James Maddison (Tottenham), Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
Southgate was speaking at his squad announcement for England’s friendly against Australia next Friday and the Euro 2024 qualifier with Italy four days later; both games are at Wembley. John Stones returns after injury and Southgate has also recalled Jarrod Bowen and Ollie Watkins.
Ben Chilwell, Eberechi Eze and Callum Wilson miss out through injury – Reece James and Luke Shaw are still sidelined – and Raheem Sterling is again overlooked. Southgate did not recall the fit-again Mason Mount, saying the midfielder had not “done enough to be in ahead of the others”, and he was unable to name a specialist left-back, confirming that Levi Colwill was “very much” an option there, along with Kieran Trippier.
Southgate has picked Bukayo Saka, who is an injury doubt for Arsenal’s Premier League game at home to Manchester City on Sunday and, as such, for England, too. Southgate would like Saka to join up and he essentially pleaded with Arsenal to trust him over the player’s wellbeing. Arsenal would prefer that Saka had a rest. They have played him in 87 consecutive league games.
“Bukayo is in contention for the weekend and we’ve obviously got a very important qualifier,” Southgate said. “The clubs have trust in us that we make decisions that are right for the long term whenever we can. We only have 10 matches a year. And there’s been times when … Bukayo, for example, hasn’t always played.
“But there are certain key games where, if it’s possible to have your best players, then you do want to have them. We’ve got that responsibility of qualifying for the country but … I’ve been a player … I’ve never, ever taken a risk on a player’s physical wellbeing. And nor would I.”
Southgate also entered the VAR debate that continues to rage after the controversy of Saturday, when Liverpool’s Luis Díaz had a goal wrongly disallowed at Tottenham after a blunder by the officials in charge of the technology.
Southgate has never liked VAR, having been brought up to respect the referee’s decision as final, even if there were doubts around it. He said that, in his experience, fans were suffering with VAR because they were kept in the dark during its interventions.
“All I would say is everybody used to go to the pub and moan about the ref and they still go to the pub and moan about the ref,” Southgate said. “So I’m not sure what we’ve resolved, really. I’m probably a bit old-fashioned. The ref gives it as he sees it, let’s crack on. We’ve got to deal with whatever happens.”
