CAF President says Nigeria ‘must’ submit bid to host FIFA World Cup

CAF president Patrice Motsepe has said he will talk with President Bola Tinubu to submit a bid to host the FIFA World Cup.

Motsepe stated that ‘the best of Nigeria’ is back. Nigeria last hosted a FIFA tournament (the U-17 World Cup) in 2009, with South Africa being the only country to have hosted the FIFA World Cup at the senior level.

When asked at a press conference about the possibility of Africa hosting the World Cup anytime soon, Motsepe said Nigeria has a great chance, and he’ll discuss it with President Tinubu at the final of the 2023 AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire.

“I know the President of Nigeria is coming for the final; I will ask him to put in a bid for Nigeria to host the World Cup. Nigeria must put in a bid. I will have a conversation with him about it.” Motsepe said.

Speaking further, Motsepe stated that Africa must be proud of the success record at the 2023 AFCON, hinting that the competition can only get better.

“We have had close to two billion people watching AFCON globally. We should be proud as Africans, and the next one will be even better.

“The success of Africa depends upon Africa working together, trading together, and, in football, countries competing and playing together.”

“Our commitment as CAF is to work together with all our partners and to contribute to uniting all our people in Africa and worldwide—people from different racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds,” he added.