Ghana’s Minister of Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, has proposed that Ghana, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire could jointly bid to co-host a future FIFA World Cup.
Speaking in an interview, Kofi Adams cited the growing trend of multi-nation hosting adopted by football’s world governing body, citing FIFA’s recent decisions to award the 2026 World Cup to the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and the 2030 edition to Morocco, Spain, and Portugal (with centenary celebration matches in South America) as evidence that joint hosting is now the preferred model.
“They [FIFA] are beginning to adopt a number of 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,” the Minister stated.
Kofi Adams highlighted the existing football infrastructure in the three West African neighbours, noting that Côte d’Ivoire successfully hosted the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (played in early 2024) while Ghana organised the delayed 2023 African Games in 2024.
“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, can also ask for that right,” he added.
The Minister urged the government to start long-term planning to position the three countries for a realistic joint bid in the coming years, emphasising that regional cooperation could make West Africa an attractive destination for the world’s biggest football tournament.