Argentina great Zanetti excited by 2030 World Cup bid

Former Argentina star Javier Zanetti said it would be a "great satisfaction" for his country to host the 2030 World Cup as part of a joint bid alongside Uruguay and Paraguay.

The 44-year-old Zanetti appeared at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups and played 143 times for Argentina, a record he shares with Javier Mascherano.

"(The bid) would be a great satisfaction for us as a country after we organised it in 1978, for us to organise such a competition like this again that makes the country grow," Zanetti told reporters at Conmebol's Casa del Futbol in Moscow.

The joint bid is the only confirmed candidate so far for the centenary tournament, although the bidding process is not due to open for several years yet.

Argentina will begin their 2018 World Cup campaign against Iceland in Group D on Saturday, with games to follow against Croatia and Nigeria.

"I always see Argentina with great players," said Zanetti, now vice-president at Inter Milan, where he spent 19 years as a player.

"I hope that in the first game, which is the most difficult as it's the first of the World Cup, the team does well and sets itself up for what follows.