The 2034 FIFA World Cup will be the 25th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It is set to be hosted in Saudi Arabia, as it was the only country to submit a bid in time for FIFA's deadline of 31 October 2023.[1]
FIFA restricted the hosting eligibility to Asia or Oceania after it made the decision to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup on three continents (Africa, Europe and South America). Observers characterized this as paving the path for Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 edition by substantially reducing potential competing host bids.[2] FIFA also unexpectedly sped up the bidding timeline by at least three years, which hindered other potential bidders. According to reporting by The New York Times, FIFA president Gianni Infantino played a key role in the selection of Saudi Arabia as host.[3]
Host selection
The bidding process for the 2034 World Cup began on 4 October 2023 and initially used the same requirements as the 2030 World Cup. FIFA later lowered the requirement for the number of existing stadiums with a minimum capacity of 40,000 from seven to four.[4] Due to FIFA's confederation rotation policy, only member associations from the Asian Football Confederation and Oceania Football Confederation were eligible to host.[5] FIFA made the decision to host the 2030 World Cup in three continents (Africa, Europe and South America) and the 2026 World Cup was set to be held in North America, which meant that the 2034 World Cup would necessarily have to be held in Asia or Oceania.[2]
On 31 October 2023, FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced that Saudi Arabia would host the 2034 World Cup, making it the third time the Asian Football Confederation has or will host the World Cup, after the 2002 tournament, which was hosted in Japan and South Korea and the 2022 tournament in Qatar, as well as the second time being held in the Middle East, after Qatar 2022.[6]
According to investigative reporting by The New York Times, Infantino played a key role in the selection of Saudi Arabia as host. He engaged in private diplomacy on Saudi Arabia's behalf, as he explored whether Greece would be willing to partner with Saudi Arabia to host the 2030 World Cup. When Spain, Portugal and Morocco announced that they would bid together for the 2030 World Cup, the Saudis considered it unlikely that the bid could be beaten. Thus, the Saudis backed out of bidding for 2030. FIFA subsequently made two moves that The New York Times described as "curious", as FIFA announced that the first three games of the 2030 World Cup would be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay while the rest would be played in Spain, Morocco and Portugal. This decision ruled Europe, Africa and South America out as potential bidders for the 2034 World Cup, and meant that the only potential bidders could be from Asia or Oceania. FIFA also unexpectedly sped up the bidding process for the 2034 World Cup, giving only 25 days for interested nations to express their intent to host. Within minutes, Saudi Arabia announced its intentions to host.[3]
After Saudi Arabia abandoned its 2030 bid alongside Greece and Egypt, they switched their focus to a solo 2034 bid. Similar strategies to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which was held in November–December as opposed to the usual summer scheduling, may be used to mitigate the country's summer heat, though SAFF insisted on a plan to host in the summer.[7] The country's bid was announced on 4 October 2023.[8] On 5 October, AFC President Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa backed Saudi Arabia's bid.[9] On the 9th, Saudi Arabia announced that it submitted the official letter of intent and signed the declaration to FIFA to bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, and that over 70 member associations already pledged their support for its bid.[10]
The first bid for the 2034 FIFA World Cup was proposed as a collective bid by the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ten countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam). The idea of a combined ASEAN bid was mooted as early as January 2011, when the former Football Association of Singapore President, Zainudin Nordin, said in a statement that the proposal was made at an ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting, despite the fact that countries cannot bid (as that's up to national associations).[18] In 2013, Nordin and Special Olympics Malaysia President, Datuk Mohamed Faisol Hassan, recalled the idea for ASEAN to jointly host a World Cup. Under FIFA rules as of 2017, the 2030 World Cup cannot be held in Asia (AFC) as Asian Football Confederation members are excluded from the bidding following the selection of Qatar in 2022.[19][20] Therefore, the earliest bid by an AFC member could be made for 2034.[21][22][23]
Later, Malaysia withdrew from involvement, but Singapore and other ASEAN countries continued the campaign to submit a joint bid for the World Cup in 2034. In February 2017, ASEAN held talks on launching a joint bid during a visit by FIFA President Gianni Infantino to Yangon, Myanmar.[21] On 1 July 2017, Vice General Chairman of the Football Association of Indonesia Joko Driyono said that Indonesia and Thailand were set to lead a consortium of Southeast Asian nations in the bid. Driyono added that due to geographic and infrastructure considerations and the expanded format (48 teams), at least two or three ASEAN countries combined would be in a position necessary to host matches.[23][24]
In September 2017, the Thai League 1 Deputy CEO Benjamin Tan, at the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Council meeting, confirmed that his Association "put in their interest to bid and co-host" the 2034 World Cup with Indonesia.[18][23] On the same occasion, the General Secretary of the AFF, Dato Sri Azzuddin Ahmad, confirmed that Indonesia and Thailand would submit a joint bid.[23] Indonesia was the first Asian team and the only Southeast Asian country to have participated in the World Cup,[25] when the territory was known as the Dutch East Indies.
However, in June 2018, FIFA executive committee member, Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Sultan of Pahang, Tengku Abdullah, who is also the former president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), expressed interest in joining the two countries in hosting the World Cup together.[26] The same year, Vietnam expressed interest in joining the bid for the same competition, despite some infrastructure concerns.[27] The four countries jointly hosted a football event before during the 2007 AFC Asian Cup.[citation needed]
In June 2019, the Prime Minister of Thailand, Prayut Chan-o-cha, announced that all 10 nations of ASEAN would launch a joint-bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup,[11] being the first to submit a ten-country joint bid in the FIFA World Cup history.[citation needed]
On 9 October 2019, five ASEAN countries officially proposed hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup. Thailand is to lead the initiative.[28]
On 15 June 2022, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, in his role as chair of ASEAN, said he would urge Southeast Asian leaders to bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2034 or 2038.[29]
Australia and New Zealand with other hosts
After its failed bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Australia considered a joint bid with neighbouring New Zealand, an OFC member with which they co-hosted the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.[30][31] Australia re-established this intention in August 2021, shortly after Brisbane's success in bidding to host the 2032 Summer Olympics.[32] A joint bid with Indonesia and other ASEAN countries instead of New Zealand was also discussed by Football Australia.[33] However, Indonesia remained reluctant to the joint bid with Australia, considering the country was also taking part in the ASEAN bid for the same competition.[34] An alternative suggestion was for Australia and New Zealand to partner alongside Malaysia and Singapore, instead of Indonesia even though both countries were also involved in the ASEAN bid as well.[35][13]
Football Australia chief executive, James Johnson, said his organisation was "exploring the possibility" following FIFA's deadline for bids to be submitted by 31 October 2023.[36] A major challenge to the bid however was the need to construct more stadiums or expand current stadiums to FIFA standards. Indonesia was in talks with Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia with a joint bid, though they pulled out on 18 October, backing the Saudi bid instead like much of the AFC.[citation needed]
On 31 October, Football Australia announced that it would not bid to host the 2034 World Cup, leaving Saudi Arabia as the sole candidate. [37]
Venues
800km 500miles
5
4
3
2
1
Location of the proposed host cities of the SAFF's 2034 FIFA World Cup bid
The official list of stadiums was confirmed on 31 July 2024 by the bid book. The tournament will be held in 5 cities; Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar, Abha and Neom, with a total of 15 stadiums (11 of which will be new). The King Salman Stadium in Riyadh is expected to host the opening and final.[38]
In addition to the venues, 2 FIFA Fan Festival locations have been proposed in each of the host cities. The draw of the groups will take place at the planned Line Convention Center, located in The Line, Neom.[38]
Teams
Qualification
Teams qualified
Team whose qualification process has yet to be decided
The selection of Saudi Arabia as a host has already attracted controversy due to human rights violations in the country. Law, human rights, and Saudi activists have asked for FIFA to put pressure on the country to improve its human rights record similar to the pressure put on Qatar when it hosted in 2022. The trade union Building and Wood Workers' International has warned that FIFA awarding Saudi Arabia the tournament goes against their conditions of human rights.[39] When Clifford Chance did an assessment of human rights in the country, the report was criticised by eleven rights organisations including, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.[40][41] The nontransparent nature of the bid has also been criticised by Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness, who stated that despite the reforms after the 2015 FIFA corruption case, little measures were taken to ensure that hosts met risk and human rights assessments. Norwegian club Fredrikstad have put pressure on their federation to boycott the tournament.[42][43] On 11 November 2024, Amnesty International called on FIFA to stop the bidding process for the 2034 FIFA World Cup, citing human rights concerns in Saudi Arabia.[44] On 25 November 2024, United States SenatorsRon Wyden and Dick Durbin urged FIFA not to award the 2034 FIFA World Cup to Saudi Arabia citing human rights concerns for citizens, workers, athletes, tourists, and members of the press in the country with no guarentee that human rights would be upheld during the tournament.[45]
Despite this, some football federations that were previously critical of Qatar during their World Cup such as the Danish Football Association and the German Football Association have either backed Saudi Arabia or remained silent. DBU chairman Jesper Møller and DBU secretary general Erik Brogger Rasmussen have stated that they are optimistic that the human rights situation will improve by the start of the World Cup, while German coach Julian Nagelsmann and German captain Joshua Kimmich stated that despite the host being Saudi Arabia, they will not make a protest about the human rights conditions in the country like the German team did in 2022 and instead focus on football.[46][47]
Environmental concerns
Fossil Free Football has raised concerns about the tournament stating that the amount of new stadiums that would be built would increase pollution, and that the tournament would be used to greenwash the country's fossil fuel industry.[48]
