Agencies
Al Qassim (Saudi Arabia)
The 2034 men’s football World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia, while Spain, Portugal and Morocco will be joint hosts for the 2030 tournament, world governing body Fifa has confirmed.
Three matches in the 2030 tournament will also be held in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to mark 100 years of the competition.
The hosts for both World Cups were confirmed at Wednesday’s Extraordinary Fifa Congress meeting following a vote. In the absence of rival bidders, the 211 FIFA members confirmed via one acclamation that Morocco, Portugal and Spain will co-host the 2030 World Cup.
All countries presented videos before the vote to showcase their bids, with Portugal great Luis Figo starring in a humorous film for the joint 2030 bid.
Two 13-year-old youth representatives started the Saudi presentation, and the nation pledged to deliver “a next generation World Cup for a new generation of fans.”
FIFA president Gianni Infantino spoke “a historic moment” and added: “Let’s unite the world with football and through football.”
With the 2026 event in the United States, Mexico and Canada, and 2030 in Europe, Africa and South America, only bidders from Asia and Oceania were permitted for 2034.
Saudi Arabia announced its intention within hours of FIFA’s statement last year, and was the lone bidder once Australia said it would not enter the race.
The Norwegian Football Federation said it would abstain if the vote came to acclamation after being unhappy with FIFA awarding two tournaments at the same time, not because Saudi Arabia were named hosts.
Landing the World Cup is the biggest coup so far for the rich Gulf kingdom which has invested heavily in sport in recent years, including a FIFA sponsorship by state oil company Aramco, as part of a “Vision 2030” reform package to make it less dependent on oil income and drive social change.
“We are opening up to the world and want to create a better life for the people in our country,” sports minister Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud said in the presentation, pledging to stage “what promises to be the best World Cup in history.”
Another winter World Cup?
The Qatar tournament was played in November and December because it is too hot in the traditional World Cup months of June and July.
The same could happen again in 2034 but the Qatar dates appear unlikely because FIFA would respect the holy month of Ramadan which runs from November 11 to December 10 that year.
There have been reports of an early January start despite a potential partial overlap with the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics that are to open on February 10, 2034. April and May have also been mentioned.
The 2034 event will be played with 48 teams and not 32 as in 2022, making the tournament longer and featuring more teams from Europe, which for its part has expanded its own events.
The 2030 tournament Four years earlier, the World Cup will come to Africa for the second time, with Morocco following South Africa in 2010.
Morocco originally bid on its own but then joined 1982 hosts Spain and Portugal for a joint bid.
South American had its own bid by Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, but the FIFA Council chose the other bid, while at least giving the first three games to the South Americans with the exception of Chile, and a celebration event in Montevideo.
