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4th September 2018
06:06pm BST

As Northern Ireland does not have a suitable stadium to host World Cup matches, the Republic of Ireland has been suggested as a partner for the United Kingdom bid. Dublin's Aviva Stadium has a capacity of over 51,000. The venue hosted the 2011 Europa League final and will host four Euro 2020 matches.
The report claims that Ireland "could win votes from countries that may not usually support the UK associations" within Fifa. So, from an infrastructural and political perspective, Ireland could prove a valuable ally to the potential UK bid. The report claims that the FAI "is understood to be open to an approach for detailed discussions" regarding the bid.
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said last week that a joint bid from "that part of Europe" would be "wise" and the FA said they are "looking at all options."
If the UK and Ireland were to join forces and submit a bid, a joint South American bid from Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay is likely to be their main rivals to host the tournament.
For what it's worth, Sepp Blatter said back in June that Ireland and the UK should prepare a joint bid for the 2030 tournament.
"I think that England, or the islands, they deserve to organise the World Cup," the former Fifa president said.
"They had it in 1966 so it’s a long time ago. (I was told that) it could be with Wales and Scotland together but I said why not Ireland altogether? With 48 teams you need more than one country to host it."
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