Ghana, Nigeria, Côte D’Ivoire eye joint World Cup bid

By Tosin Omojola 

Ghana’s Minister of Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, has suggested that Ghana, Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire could jointly bid to host the FIFA World Cup in the future.

Adams said the growing trend of multi-country World Cup hosting could provide an opportunity for the three West African nations to submit a joint bid.

He pointed to FIFA’s decision to stage the 2026 World Cup across the United States, Canada and Mexico, followed by the 2030 tournament in Morocco, Spain and Portugal, as evidence that joint hosting is becoming an established model.

“They [FIFA] are beginning to adopt several nations doing it, so maybe who knows, the next one would be Ghana, Nigeria, and then Côte d’Ivoire coming together to also host the World Cup and it will be good,” Adams said.

He said the three countries’ sporting infrastructure and recent experience hosting major tournaments could support such an ambition.

“I believe that we, together with Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire, who have already invested quite a lot because they hosted AFCON not too long ago, we can also ask for that right,” he added.

Côte d’Ivoire hosted the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, while Ghana staged the delayed 2023 African Games in 2024.

The proposal would be a long-term ambition, as the 2026, 2030 and 2034 World Cups have already been awarded.