MONTEVIDEO, Feb. 19 -- Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay will push their joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup during this year's edition of football's biggest tournament in Russia, officials said on Monday.

Government representatives from the three South American nations met in the Uruguayan capital Montevideo to discuss the next steps in promoting their candidacy.

"The World Cup is coming and I think the time is right to use all of our combined force to present [our bid] in front of a world audience," Uruguay's President Tabare Vazquez said in a statement.

"[This year's World Cup] will be a great chance to position and consolidate our bid because the world will be focused on football and we can have a privileged space of attention."

This year's World Cup will be played in 11 Russian cities from June 14 to July 15.

Monday's meeting also included Argentine Football Association president Claudio Tapia, Argentina's sports secretary Fernando Marin and Paraguay's tourism minister Marcela Bacigalupo, among other officials.

The 2030 tournament will take place 100 years after Uruguay won the inaugural World Cup as hosts.

Argentina and Uruguay, both two-time World Cup winners, announced their plans for a joint candidacy early last year before adding Paraguay to the bid in September.

The tournament has been staged once before in both Argentina and Uruguay while Paraguay is aiming to host it for the first time.

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