World Cup 2038: Can France Bring It Home?
Summary
A golden trophy, a summer night, a country holding its breath. Forty years after the 1998 victory, the idea of a home World Cup is awakening — driven by an official report. This Saturday, France lays its cards on the table: heading for the World Cup 2038.
What if the World Cup came home in 2038? The dream is forty years ahead.
France 2038: the report in brief
- Presentation: this Saturday, to Marina Ferrari, Minister of Sports (before the Top 14 final)
- The document: 118 pages, signed by the TES association (about thirty local authorities)
- Three targets: Women’s Euro 2033, Men’s Euro 2036, World Cup 2038
- 2038 scenario: a France-Germany co-hosting to limit the carbon footprint
- ️ The symbol: forty years after the star won at home in 1998
The report that rekindles the flame: heading for 2038
It all starts with a document. This Saturday, the Territories of Sporting Events (TES) association hands over a 118-page report to Marina Ferrari, Minister of Sports. Its thesis is summed up in one line: France must become a land of major events again.
The text does not just dream. It puts three bids on the table: Women’s Euro 2033, Men’s Euro 2036, and especially the World Cup 2038. The last one awakens something deeper.
Because 2038 is not a neutral date. It echoes a founding summer, that of the first victory. The report rekindles this flame and lays it out, black on white, before the government.
The German option
The report slips in a clever idea: for 2038, France could bid hand in hand with Germany. The stated goal — to lighten the carbon footprint of an XXL World Cup. Two neighbors, two stadium parks already seasoned, a reduced footprint. The solo scenario remains on the table, but the shared path makes sense.
Why does France tick all the boxes?
Because it has the walls. Thanks to Euro 2016 and the Paris 2024 Games, France has one of the most modern and complete stadium parks in Europe. The venues already exist; they mainly need modernization, not construction.
Because the field is clearing on the other side. Credible bids for major FIFA and UEFA events are becoming rare. France is among the last countries able to organize, alone or with a partner, an event of this scale.
And because a World Cup is an accelerator. Beyond sport, hosting the competition would force a new wave of infrastructure modernization. The report makes this its central argument: a major event is a lever for an entire country.
Did you know?
After North America in 2026, a Spain-Portugal-Morocco trio in 2030, and Saudi Arabia in 2034, no one yet knows which continent will host 2038. FIFA has not fixed its rotation rules: the door is ajar, not wide open.
Between FIFA rotation and an ajar door
Here lies the real suspense. FIFA likes to rotate its World Cups between continents. And since Europe is already involved in the 2030 edition, nothing guarantees it will get 2038.
That is the whole bet of the report. To position early, to exist in the conversation, to be ready if the window opens. The document even foresees a plan B: failing the World Cup, a Euro 2038 on French soil.
The bid is therefore not a given. It is a door that France wants to push before others. Do you see the nuance? The report promises nothing — it arms the country to aim right.
Back home: 2038, forty years after 98
What remains essential: the emotion. 2038 would mark the return of the World Cup to France, forty years after the summer of 1998 and the first star. For a whole generation, it would close the loop.
On social media, the dream has already grown. Supporters imagine a trophy coming home, and a new generation of Bleus ready to write the next chapter. At Project X Paris, we are already thrilled by this idea — one country, one flag, one summer to reinvent.
Nothing is signed, nothing is won. But for the first time in a long time, the dream has a date. And keep this date in mind: 2038.
2038, the return home
The 98 dream never died: it was dormant. Today, a report wakes it and gives it a horizon. France has not yet won 2038 — but the countdown has just begun.
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