FIFA To Confirm Saudi Arabia As 2034 World Cup Hosts

Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup, according to FIFA, while Morocco, Spain, and Portugal will host the 2030 World Cup in a joint bid that includes matches in South America.

There is no question about the outcomes of neither bid having a rival, but a vote on the hosting rights for both tournaments will be held during a virtual FIFA Congress.

As for 2034, FIFA invoked its principle of rotating its flagship tournament between continents, only welcoming bids from Asia or Oceania — the 2026 World Cup, the first involving 48 teams, will take place across North America.

Controversially, the body gave potential bidders barely a month last year to submit candidacies, and Australia and Indonesia quickly abandoned their interest.

Saudi Arabia became the only candidate after Qatar hosted in 2022, opening the door for the Saudi-Arab region to host the World Cup again.

The kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has been using sport for some time to amass influence and improve its global image — critics though say he is effectively “sportswashing” by diverting attention from Saudi Arabia’s rights record.

Saudi Arabia already hosts a number of well-known sporting events, including the WTA Finals tennis tournament, heavyweight boxing competitions, the LIV rival golf course, and Formula One Grand Prix.

Saudi will receive hosting rights in the 2034 World Cup, which will be a crowning moment given that the country currently only has two stadiums with a capacity of 40, 000 when 14 are required.

Beyond that logistical difficulty, the summertime highs in the northern hemisphere might cause the tournament to be postponed until later in the year, as did Qatar in 2022.

However, the fact that Ramadan will take place in December that year is an added complication.

Additionally, Saudi winning the World Cup will rekindle discussions around the human rights debate, just as they did two years ago.

Rights groups highlight the restrictions on women under the conservative country’s male guardianship system, allegations of torture, and mass executions in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, free expression is severely restricted.

Unprecedented bid

Uruguay will host the 2030 World Cup, which will be the first World Cup competition since Uruguay, along with Argentina and Paraguay.

That makes it a completely unprecedented bid, involving three different continental confederations.

All other potential candidates have fallen by the wayside, according to FIFA, which made it known more than a year ago that Morocco, Spain, and Portugal were the only contenders for 2030.

When South Korea, China, Japan, and North Korea suggested making a bid, their decision to focus on hosting Euro 2028 was abandoned.

In 2019, four South American nations made a joint bid, claiming that the continent where the XXX World Cup will take place should be the sole site of the centennial celebration.

In late 2022, UEFA promoted a bid uniting Spain and Portugal with war-torn Ukraine in a show of “solidarity” following the Russian invasion.

However, South America agreed to step aside in exchange for hosting three games, one for Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina, while Morocco joined forces with the Iberian neighbors last year, and Ukraine was quietly dropped from that candidacy.

Morocco plans a mega stadium

The six teams involved will have to cross the Atlantic Ocean to play the remainder of the tournament following these “centenary celebrations” in the comparative cold of the southern hemisphere winter.

The final of this tentacular tournament will take place on July 21, but it’s still unknown where that contest will take place.

Spain, which hosted the 1982 World Cup, is set to be the centrepiece as it boasts 11 of the 20 proposed stadiums.

Morocco will follow South Africa in 2010 as the second African country to host the event after it has tried and failed on five previous occasions to win the tournament.

The Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid and Barcelona’s Camp Nou, both of which are nearing the completion of a significant renovation project, as well as the planned Hassan II stadium, which will be “the biggest stadium in the world” with a capacity of 115, 000, are potential venues for the final.

Portugal, which hosted Euro 2004, will offer two stadiums in Lisbon and one in Porto, and hopes to stage a semi-final.

Source: Channels TV