Saudi Arabia To Host 2034 FIFA World Cup After Australia Withdraws From Bidding Process

The 2034 FIFA Men's World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia. Australia withdrew its bid just hours before FIFA's deadline for declarations of interest.

Robert Summerscales | Oct 31, 2023

Saudi Arabia To Host 2034 FIFA World Cup After Australia Withdraws From Bidding Process /

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The 2034 FIFA Men's World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia.

FIFA had previously stated that the tournament would take place in either Asia or Oceania.

Australia and Saudi Arabia had been the only two nations to put forward a firm proposal.

But Australia withdrew from the process just hours before FIFA's official deadline for declarations of interest on Tuesday.

The World Cup trophy is pictured on display at a FIFA congress in March 2022 — The 2034 FIFA Men's World Cup will be hosted by Saudi Arabia :: IMAGO/Schuler

The next Men's World Cup will be held across the USA, Mexico and Canada in 2026.

Morocco, Portugal and Spain will then co-host the 2030 tournament, although three matches will also be held in South America - in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Saudi Arabia 2034 will be the third FIFA Men's World Cup to be held in Asia. The first was in 2002 when the tournament was jointly hosted by Japan and South Korea.

The second FIFA Men's World Cup in Asia was Qatar 2022.

China has twice hosted the FIFA Women's World Cup - in 1991 and 2007.

Before hosting the 2034 World Cup, Saudi Arabia will stage the AFC Asian Cup in 2027.

Two new stadiums in Riyadh and one in Dammam are being built for that tournament and all three could also be used in 2034.

Meanwhile, there are plans to increase the capacity of the King Fahd International Stadium, also in Riyadh, from around 56,000 to more than 80,000.

Jeddah will be a host city for both tournaments, with games likely taking place at King Abdullah Sports City.

A photo taken inside the King Fahd International Stadium during a Saudi Pro League game between Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli in October 2023 — The King Fahd International Stadium, home of Al-Hilal, is expected to be one of the venues used during the 2034 World Cup :: IMAGO/Power Sport Images/Victor Fraile

Published Oct 31, 2023

ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.