World Cup 2030: Uefa would 'strongly support' Engish or British bid, says president Aleksander Ceferin

The Slovenian said earlier in the week that it will be 'Europe's turn' to host the tournament

Ceferin said the tournament should not be sold to the country 'who wants to pay the most' (Getty)

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has given his backing to the 2030 World Cup being held in England - or a combined British bid.

The Slovenian said earlier in the week that it will be "Europe's turn" to host the tournament, following 2022 in Qatar and a 2026 event tipped to take place in North America.

Ceferin has now gone further by backing a return to Britain for the first time since England hosted and won the 1966 World Cup.

He told the BBC: "For me, they are absolutely capable of organising it from an organisational point of view, from an infrastructure point of view.

"But of course it's a decision not just for the FA, probably the government and all the others too.

"But you know everything about English or British football, so they deserve to have a World Cup in the near future.

"I don't know how much encouragement they need, but they are capable of organising the World Cup, I'm sure. That's the decision of the Football Association and if they decide to go, we will strongly support them.

"They will have all our political support. I just hope we will not have two European bidders, because that would not be good.

Aleksander Ceferin said Uefa would support a British bid (Getty)

"I think the ideal situation would be to have one European bidder, and then all of Europe stands together and we can achieve it."

Britain gets a taste of hosting a major event on Saturday evening with the Champions League final, between Juventus and Real Madrid, taking place in Cardiff.

It brings Real's Gareth Bale back to Wales after he helped his country memorably reach the semi-finals of Euro 2016, and Ceferin feels the occasion will help further Wales' development.

He said: "It's quite different if you bring the Champions League final to a city like Cardiff compared to a city like London. London will not change if the Champions League final comes to town. For Cardiff it's a fantastic experience.

"It's a bit of a challenge for us because of the lack of infrastructure - hotels and things like that - but I'm sure that they will never forget it.

"It's very important also for the development of football. They had some fantastic results last year, especially at the Euro, and they have one of the best players in the world. For a small country like that, it's a fantastic result."

PA