The joint Spain-Portugal bid is among four European bidders for the 2018/22 World Cups, but the Iberian neighbors aren’t exactly on the best of terms. “I don’t see Portugal overly excited,”Spanish sports minister Jaime Lissavetzky told Spanish newspaper AS. “It seems that those in soccer are more interested than the politicians.”
Lissavetzky’s Portuguese counterpart, Laurentino Dias, responded by saying that Portugal doesn’t have the money to spend on stadiums. He believes Benfica’sStadium of Light, FC Porto’s Stadium of the Dragon and Sporting Lisbon’s Jose Alvalade Stadium — all used for Euro 2004 — will suffice.
The Spain-Portugal bid is going up againstEngland, Russia and Belgium-Netherlands for one of the two World Cups.