FIFA World Cup hosts: Saudi Arabia confirmed as 2034 men’s World Cup host

Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 men’s FIFA World Cup after the kingdom’s controversial bid, which ran unopposed, was ratified by FIFA’s Congress at a remotely-held meeting on Wednesday afternoon. The Congress also confirmed Spain, Portugal and Morocco as co-hosts for the 2030 edition, which will feature matches held in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay to mark the World Cup’s centenary.

Saudi Arabia has been officially confirmed as the host nation of the men’s 2034 FIFA World Cup.
A virtual meeting of FIFA’s Congress on Wednesday rubber-stamped the kingdom’s bid to host the tournament, despite disquiet around its human rights record.

The meeting was held online – in contrast to previous confirmations of winning bids – amid accusations of a lack of transparency around the selection process.

The same meeting ratified Spain, Portugal and Morocco as co-hosts for the 2030 tournament, which will also stage the opening three matches in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay to mark the World Cup’s centenary year. The competition was first held in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1930.
Saudi Arabia was essentially already guaranteed as the 2034 hosts as no other country ran in the bidding process. The process began in October 2023, with countries only given a month to express an interest.

Australia – the only other possible candidate – decided not to enter the running, meaning the Saudi bid would be unopposed.

FIFA rotational rules determined that only countries from Asia and Oceania could bid for the 2034 edition, as the 2030 tournament will take place across three continents – Europe, Africa, and South America – and the 2026 edition will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the USA, ruling out North and Central America.

The confirmation was made even more of a formality by the publication of FIFA’s evaluation report last month. Written by Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom, the report awarded the Saudi bid an average score of 4.2 out of 5 – the highest-ever score for a World Cup bid.
It was met with outrage by environmental and human rights campaigners, particularly the suggestion that a tournament there was ‘medium risk’ for human rights issues and ‘low risk’ for environmental ones, despite widespread concerns to the contrary.

Similarly to the controversial Qatar 2022 World Cup, campaigners are particularly concerned about the exploitation and treatment of migrant workers who will build the infrastructure for the tournament, as well as the treatment and repression of dissidents and women, and the criminalisation of homosexuality.

FIFA’s report argued staging the World Cup in Saudi Arabia had “good potential to act as a catalyst for… reforms” and that the bid had “a good overall commitment to sustainability”.

Wednesday’s online meeting did not involve the traditional vote to ratify the winning bid, instead relying on applause from the other federations.
Norway’s football federation had previously said it would abstain from this, saying the selection process “undermines FIFA’s own reforms for good governance” and “challenges trust in FIFA”. However, the majority of other federations, including The FA, did not oppose or abstain from the ratification.

The 2034 World Cup – like the 2022 edition – is likely to be held in winter due to the climate in Saudi Arabia, with FIFA’s evaluation report conceding there was an “elevated risk in terms of event timing” if it were to take place in summer.

The bid proposed 15 stadiums across five host cities, including eight which are to be built between now and 2034, and three which are currently under construction. One host city, the futuristic Neom development, does not yet exist.

Saudi Arabia has previously hosted a FIFA tournament, the 2023 Club World Cup, and has invested heavily in sports in recent years. Under president Gianni Infantino, FIFA has cultivated close ties with the kingdom and has a sponsorship deal with state-owned oil giant Aramco.

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Source: eurosport