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FIFA named the hosts for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups on Wednesday with Spain, Portugal and Morocco getting the former edition and Saudi Arabia controversially landing the latter.
There is minimal surprise at the outcome given that the two decisions have been considered a foregone conclusion since there was only one single candidate for each event.
Both bids have been scrutinized but it is the 2034 World Cup being awarded to Saudi Arabia which has and will continue to create the most controversy.
Human rights concerns have been voiced vehemently in the build-up to the decision to award the event to the Gulf nation.
Migrant worker abuse, freedom of speech and minority group rights are well-documented to be highly problematic similarly to the 2022 World Cup in nearby Qatar.
Saudi World Cup timeline
We chart the chain of events that has led us to Saudi Arabia winning the 2034 FIFA World Cup hosting rights what would be 12 years on from Qatar. Saudi Arabia also stands to be the first country to host the World Cup new 48-team World Cup format alone with the expansio from 32 teams starting at the 2026 World Cup.
- 23 June 2023: Joint bid from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Greece is withdrawn. Had it won, it would have been the first men’s or women’s World Cup hosted in countries attached to three different soccer federations (AFC, CAF and UEFA) and across three separate continents (Asia, Africa and Europe) as well as the first men’s tournament held in more than one continental confederation.
- 4 October 2023: Saudi Arabia’s solo World Cup bid is announced. Despite Qatar’s 2022 bid forcing a winter tournament due to the summer heat, the Saudi FA are insisting on a summer event.
- 5 October 2023: AFC President Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa backs Saudi Arabia’s bid to host its own World Cup.
- 9 October 2023: Saudi Arabi announces that it has submitted an official letter of intent and signed a declaration to FIFA regarding the hosting of the 2034 World Cup with over 70 different member associations pledging support for the bid.
- 31 October 2023: After FIFA announced the bidding timeline, Saudi Arabia was quick to confirm its candidacy while Australia considered partnering with Indonesia before withdrawing from the process which left the Saudi bid a the sole candidate.
- 31 July 2024: Saudi Arabia’s official list of stadiums is confirmed including Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar, Abha, and Neom with 15 total venues and the King Salman Stadium expected to host the opening game as well as the final.
- 30 November 2024: FIFA releases its evaluation of Saudi Arabia’s bid with an average score of 4.2 out of five scoring it as the highest performing World Cup host bid in history.
- 11 December 2024: FIFA confirms at its Congress that Saudi Arabia has been ratified as the 2034 World Cup host nation.
Saudi Arabia has been investing heavily in sports in recent years via its sovereign wealth fund — Public Investment Fund (PIF) — including sports outside of soccer such as golf and Formula One.
Saudi Vision 2030 is a project led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify its economy and the focus has mainly been on soccer.
Newcastle United in the English Premier League is now Saudi-owned while Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar are among the superstar names now plying their trade in the Saudi Pro League.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been glowing in his assessment of the Saudi Crown Prince’s activity and a World Cup on home turf is the logical next step in that project.
Saudi Arabia plans to build or renovate 11 stadiums as well as 185,000 hotel rooms as part of a major infrastructure shakeup.
Like Qatar, the World Cup in 2034 on Saudi Arabian soil is already attracting fierce human rights criticism while question marks over Qatar’s true legacy still linger.
