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2034 FIFA World Cup
كَأْسُ الْعَالَم لِكُرَّةُ الْقَدَم 2034
Kaʾs al-ʿālam li-kurat al-qadam 2034
Tournament details
Host countrySaudi Arabia
Teams48 (from 6 confederations)
← 2030
2038 →

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 nation to submit a bid in time for FIFA's deadline of 31 October 2023.

FIFA restricted the hosting eligibility to Asia or Oceania after it made the decision to host the 2030 World Cup on three continents (Africa, Europe and South America). Observers characterised this as paving the path for Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 World Cup by substantially reducing potential competing host bids. [1] FIFA also unexpectedly sped up the bidding timeline by at least three years, which hindered other potential bidders. [2] According to reporting by The New York Times, FIFA president Gianni Infantino played a key role in the selection of Saudi Arabia as host. [2]

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. [3] Due to FIFA's confederation rotation policy, only member associations from the Asian Football Confederation and Oceania Football Confederation were eligible to host. [4] 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. [1]

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. [5]

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. [2] 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 that it wanted to host. [2]

Bids

Main article: 2034 FIFA World Cup bids

Saudi Arabia

Main article: Saudi Arabia 2034 FIFA World Cup bid

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. [6] The country's bid was announced on 4 October 2023. [7] On 5 October, AFC President Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa backed Saudi Arabia's bid. [8] 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. [9]

Declined bids

  •  ASEAN [10]
  •  Australia, [11] [12]  New Zealand, [13]  Indonesia,  Malaysia, and  Singapore [14]
  •  China,  Hong Kong, and  Macao [15] [16]
  •  Kazakhstan,  Kyrgyzstan, and  Uzbekistan [17]

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

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.

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, [10] being the first to submit a ten-country joint bid in the FIFA World Cup history.

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 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 nations instead of New Zealand was also discussed by Football Australia. [33] However, Indonesia remained reluctant to the joint bid with Australia, considering the country is also taking part in the ASEAN bid for the same competition. [34] An alternative suggestion is for Australia and New Zealand to partner alongside Malaysia and Singapore, instead of Indonesia even though both countries are also involved in the ASEAN bid as well. [12] [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. [35] 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.

On 31 October, Football Australia put out a statement saying that they decided against bidding, leaving Saudi Arabia as the sole bid. [36]

Potential venues

class=notpageimage|
2034 FIFA World Cup potential locations

The official list of stadiums is yet to be confirmed, but it is reported that the tournament might be held in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Qiddiya, Ḥaʼil, Neom, Najran, Abha, Al Hofuf, Al Khobar, Al Qatif, Taif and Buraidah, since stadiums in some of those cities are in development or renovation to meet FIFA World Cup standards for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. [37]

Teams

Qualification

  Teams qualified
  Team whose qualification process has yet to be decided
  Teams failed to qualify
  Teams withdrew or suspended
  Not a FIFA member
Team Method of
qualification 		Date of
qualification 		Total
times
qualified 		Last
time
qualified 		Current
consecutive
appearances 		Previous best
performance
  Saudi Arabia Hosts 31 October 2023 7 [A] 2022 2 Round of 16 ( 1994)
  1. ^ Saudi Arabia may still qualify for the 2026 or 2030 FIFA World Cup, which could bring their prior appearances to 8 or 9.

See also

References

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  2. ^ a b c d Panja, Tariq (15 November 2023). "Inside Man: How FIFA Guided the World Cup to Saudi Arabia". The New York Times. ISSN  0362-4331. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
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  7. ^ "Morocco-Spain-Portugal to host 2030 World Cup, Saudi Arabia to bid for 2034". Al Jazeera. 4 October 2023. Archived from the original on 5 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  8. ^ "AFC President welcomes FWC hosting decision, backs SAFF intent to bid for 2034 edition". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 5 October 2023. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Saudi Arabian Football Federation submits official letter of intent to bid for 2034 FIFA World Cup". saff.com.sa. Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF). 9 October 2023. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
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  11. ^ "Australia in stunning World Cup bid". News.com.au. 27 June 2019. Archived from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
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  13. ^ a b "NZ Football engaged in 2034 World Cup talks with bid deadline fast approaching". Stuff. 15 October 2023. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Indonesia discussing joint bid for 2034 World Cup with Australia". RTÉ. 11 October 2023. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  15. ^ Hong Soon-do (19 June 2017). "China to Overtake US economy and Host World Cup in 2034". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  16. ^ Porteous, James (8 May 2017). "China denies submitting official bid for World Cup 2034 – but it seems it's only a matter of deciding what year". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  17. ^ "Невозможно поверить! Казахстан и Узбекистан хотят провести чемпионат мира в 2034 году". sports.ru (in Russian). 21 July 2023. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  18. ^ a b Teng Kiat, Teo (5 July 2017). "Singapore strong 'host' candidate for joint 2034 World Cup finals bid". Today. Singapore. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  19. ^ Hill, Tim (9 March 2017). "Trump travel ban could prevent United States hosting World Cup". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  20. ^ Rumsby, Ben (14 October 2016). "England's hopes of hosting 2030 World Cup given boost". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  21. ^ a b "ASEAN mulling 2034 World Cup bid: Myanmar". The Myanmar Times. AFP. 20 February 2017. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  22. ^ "Indonesia ready to lead Asean bid for 2034 World Cup". The Straits Times. AFP. 6 July 2017. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  23. ^ a b c d Dudley, George (26 September 2017). "AFF Backs Indonesia-Thailand Bid for 2034 FIFA World Cup". SportsPro. Archived from the original on 31 October 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  24. ^ "Football: Indonesia to lead South-east Asian 2034 World Cup bid". The Straits Times. AFP. 5 July 2017. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
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  27. ^ Low, Lin Fhoong (10 October 2019). "Football: Singapore part of five-nation Asean bid for 2034 World Cup". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 20 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  28. ^ Ken Thomas (10 October 2019). "ASEAN officially proposed to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, including Thailand & Vietnam". Live Sport Asia. Archived from the original on 11 November 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  29. ^ "PM Hun Sen Says He Will Urge ASEAN to Bid to Host 2034 World Cup". EAC News. 15 June 2022. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  30. ^ Cleaver, Dylan (13 April 2015). "Fifa World Cup: NZ dream to host Cup". New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  31. ^ Ogden, Mark (13 June 2018). "Potential 2030 World Cup hosts include Uruguay/Argentina, England". ESPN. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  32. ^ "Australia plan to bid for FIFA Men's World Cup". Sports Entertainment Network. 12 August 2021. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  33. ^ "New Zealand or Indonesia? Australia needs co-host to get World Cup bid off ground". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
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