Spain proposes football stadiums for 2035 Rugby World Cup bid

Spain has included major football stadiums—including Barcelona’s Camp Nou, Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu and Atlético Madrid’s Metropolitano—in its bid to host the 2035 Rugby World Cup, with Valencia’s Mestalla also among the proposed venues. If selected, Spain expects the revamped Camp Nou, which can hold more than 100,000 fans, to host the final. The Spanish Rugby Federation says the bid would build on venues and infrastructure for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Spain will co-host with Portugal and Morocco, and help grow rugby in Spain and internationally. Spain faces competing bids from Japan and a South American group led by Argentina; the country is also set to return to the men’s Rugby World Cup in 2027, its first appearance since 1999.