Saudi Arabia Set to Host 2034 FIFA World Cup as Sole Candidate Following Australia’s Exit
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Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia (left) and FIFA President Gianni Infantino (center). / AP Yonhap News
Following the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the 2034 World Cup is also expected to be held in the Middle East, specifically in Saudi Arabia. With Australia officially stepping away from the bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, Saudi Arabia’s solo hosting is now a certainty.
FIFA announced that due to Australia’s withdrawal decision on the last day of the deadline for submitting intent to host, which was last month on the 31st (local time), Saudi Arabia remains the sole candidate.
The Australian Football Federation announced on its website that “we considered the possibility of hosting the World Cup, but after reviewing all matters, we concluded not to host the 2034 tournament”.
Australia was initially expected to compete with Saudi Arabia for the 2034 World Cup bid in collaboration with countries like Indonesia. However, the bidding landscape changed when the Indonesian Football Association suddenly reversed its position on the 18th of last month and declared its support for Saudi Arabia.
With Australia officially announcing its withdrawal, it is now virtually confirmed that Saudi Arabia will be chosen as the host for the 2034 World Cup.
FIFA asked countries interested in hosting the 2034 World Cup to express their intent by the 31st of last month officially and to submit necessary documents for qualification evaluation by the 30th of this month. Currently, the only country confirmed to have abandoned its intent to host FIFA is Saudi Arabia.
2022 Qatar World Cup trophy. / News1
Saudi Arabia has openly expressed its ambition to host the 2034 World Cup. The country has drawn attention by recruiting superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, and Fabinho to its professional football league. The reason Saudi Arabia suddenly attracted much attention in the football world was due to its World Cup hosting aspirations.
If Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the 2034 World Cup is confirmed, it will become the fourth Asian country to host it successfully. The first time the World Cup was held in Asia was in 2002, when South Korea and Japan co-hosted. Twenty years later, in 2022, Qatar became the third Asian country to host the World Cup.
Like Qatar, Saudi Arabia is also a desert country in the Middle East. Typically, it is impossible to hold matches in a desert country during June and July when the World Cup is usually held. Therefore, similar to the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the 2034 World Cup will likely be held in winter.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia had aimed to co-host the 2034 World Cup with Egypt and Greece but withdrew from the bid last June after losing the competition.
The host for the 2034 World Cup, which Saudi Arabia gave up, was decided on the 4th of last month to be co-hosted by three continents (Africa, Europe, South America) with Morocco, Spain, and Portugal.
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