Ukraine, Poland explore joint FIFA World Cup bid

Ukraine and Poland are weighing up a joint bid to host the biggest sporting event on the planet: the men’s FIFA World Cup. Kyiv’s sports minister Matvii Bidnyi told POLITICO that Ukraine, which is currently fending off the Kremlin’s yearslong full-scale invasion, would like to host with Poland in the next open World Cup slot. Poland is discussing the prospect, according to an official briefed by the Warsaw government. “The nearest open date for the World Cup is somewhere in the 2040s … so we need to plan for this perspective right now,” said Bidnyi, as he confirmed his country was interested in exploring a joint-hosting bid. Spain, Portugal and Morocco are hosting in 2030, and Saudi Arabia is the lone host in 2034. Ukraine already has experience organizing a major tournament with Poland, Bidnyi added, pointing to the men’s Euro 2012 football championship. “It would be very logical to repeat this successful case,” he said, noting that such a bid could also “invite investors’ attention.” Any proposal would unfold in a dramatically different context from Euro 2012. Russia’s assault has left Ukraine with reconstruction and recovery needs estimated at nearly $588 billion over the next decade — almost three times the country’s projected nominal GDP for 2025 — according to an assessment by the Ukrainian government, the World Bank Group, the European Commission and the United Nations. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin’s onslaught also shows no signs of abating, as Russian forces push to occupy Ukraine and bombard major cities across the country almost every night. Addressing the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 1, Assembly President Annalena Baerbock said there was “no safe space left” in the country and that civilian casualties during the first half of 2026 were 114 percent higher than during the same period in 2024. The Donbas Arena offers a glimpse into the infrastructure challenges Ukraine would face in hosting another major tournament. The futuristic stadium in Donetsk staged five Euro 2012 matches, but in 2014 Russian-backed separatists seized control of parts of the region and fighting broke out between them and the Ukrainian army. FC Shakhtar Donetsk, the domestic club that played in the stadium, was forced to leave the city and shelling later damaged the arena. The club has never been able to return and now plays its home games in western Ukraine. The politics behind the cup The World Cup is frequently staged with political tensions as a backdrop. Russia itself hosted in 2018, years after Putin annexed Crimea and instigated the war in eastern Ukraine. Some Western politicians called on FIFA to strip Russia of its hosting rights, but the tournament went ahead as planned, offering Moscow an opportunity to project an image of normalcy and prestige amid continued criticism of its belligerent foreign policy. This summer, FIFA’s relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump overshadowed the run-up to the tournament — and exploded during the competition ahead of a knockout match between America and Belgium. Artists perform during the opening ceremony ahead of the 2026 World Cup. | Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images Pressed on whether the Polish-Ukrainian idea reflected live discussions or a longer-term postwar ambition, Bidnyi said, “We will work on it … we continue to be the country who is directed on the biggest sports achievements. It’s part of our national culture, and we want to develop it despite all these difficulties.” Any formal push, he noted, would need to originate with the sports community or football federations themselves. “We’re interested in it, but … it starts from the initiatives of sports community or sports federation. So we will see,” he said. The idea was also raised in conversations on the sidelines of this year’s Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk, according to the official