One of German football’s leading executives says that his country should be considered a leading contender to host the men’s World Cup in either 2038 or 2042.Axel Hellmann, the CEO of Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt and a member of the German Football Association (DFB)’s management board, has told The Athletic that Germany would have “the full infrastructure for everything that is needed”, while also expressing fears that the record-high ticket pricing set by FIFA this summer could set a dangerous precedent for future competitions.Bernd Neuendorf, the president of the DFB, has previously suggested his organization would address the question of a bid in the future. Hellmann says: “We would love to, and there is an initiative by Neuendorf and the DFB to run for 2042, maybe 2038. It depends on FIFA regulations.” The DFB declined to comment, with FIFA’s bid processes for the two tournaments yet to open.One of the challenges to a German bid for 2038 is FIFA’s confederation rotation principle. Two tournaments must pass by before a confederation can host another World Cup. In 2030, the tournament will be shared across three continents (Africa, Europe and South America) and six countries (Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay).This made the 2034 tournament essentially a fait accompli for Saudi Arabia, which belongs to the Asian confederation. Under the rotation principle, this would leave only North America and Oceania as options for 2038, and, as Australia belongs to the Asian confederation, the door appears firmly open for a return to the United States, which co-hosted the 2026 tournament with Canada and Mexico, and is set to host the 2031 women’s tournament with Mexico, Jamaica and Costa Rica.U.S. President Donald Trump has already publicly said he would like to host another men’s World Cup, while White House World Cup task force director Andrew Giuliani has said he believes the U.S. could “handle” an expansion to 64 teams.Germany fans celebrate the team finishing third at the last men’s World Cup it hosted in 2006 (Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)“There’s no better country that’s positioned to host a World Cup than the United States,” said Giuliani.Hellmann says he is unsure if FIFA would need to change the rule, suggesting it could demonstrate the “elasticity” it has previously shown when making unorthodox policy decisions. He says the fact the 2030 competition is split across three tournaments means it should not rule out a European nation from hosting, or co-hosting, the World Cup two cycles down the line.He says: “Germany has the stadium infrastructure, mobility infrastructure and hotel infrastructure. Every single game will be sold out. It will be a success. There is space for (a bid) in 2038, but I’m quite sure for 2042 we have very good chances to run a successful campaign.”Hellmann says the ultimate responsibility will fall on Neuendorf, as DFB president, but the Frankfurt CEO says “it’s important to send a signal to German society” that the nation is interested and ambitious. There have been some suggestions in France of a joint bid with Germany but Hellmann says it is too early to say whether his country would host alone or with partners.