The 2034 World Cup will be played in Saudi Arabia

The president of the International Football Federation (FIFA), Gianni Infantinoconfirmed this Tuesday that the men’s World Cup in 2034 will be held in Saudi Arabiaafter the Australian Federation (Football Australia) withdrew its bid despite exploring “the opportunity” and “considering all factors”.

“The greatest show on Earth will be hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States in North America in 2026. The next two editions of the FIFA World Cup will be held in Africa (Morocco) and Europe (Portugal and Spain), with three celebratory matches played in South America (Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) in 2030 and in Asia (Saudi Arabia) in 2034,” Infantino said on his official Instagram account .

“Three editions, five continents and ten countries involved in tournament matches. This is making the football is truly global! The bid processes were approved by consensus through the FIFA Council, where the six confederations are represented, after constructive dialogue and extensive consultations. Thank you to everyone who participated in this positive exchange,” said the FIFA president.

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In this regard, Infantino added that “football unites the world like no other sport, and the FIFA World Cup is the perfect showcase for a message of unity and inclusion, as well as providing an important illustration of how different cultures can be together and learn and understand each other better.”

“As we live in an increasingly divided and aggressive world, we showed once again that football, the world’s leading sport, unites like nothing else. We all need these occasions of unity and the upcoming FIFA World Cups provide one unique force for good in this regard,” concluded Infantino.

Australia is focused on other goals

Hours before, it had vanished possibility of an Australian bid. “We have explored the opportunity to submit a bid to host the World Cup and, after considering all factors, have come to the conclusion not to do so for the 2034 competition,” Football Australia said in the your web page.

The host country alongside New Zealand of the last Women’s World Cup, which was won by Spain, did indicate that it is “in a strong position” to host the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup as well as the Club World Cup of 2029, tournaments he aspires to organize.

“Achieving this, after the Women’s World Cup in 2023 and the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, would represent a truly golden decade for Australian football“, pointed out the ‘Aussie’ entity in its press release.

Football Australia argued that, for the organization of international tournaments, its time zones “provide significant opportunities for rights operators”, because they are “within reach of billions of people in Asia and Oceania”. to achieve “a solid commercial perspective for the competitions”.

“Football Australia remains committed to contributing positively to the growth and success of football at all levels. We wish FIFA and the eventual hosts of the 2034 World Cup the best of success for the sake of sport and all those who love it,” the statement concluded, confirming that it was giving Saudi Arabia the go-ahead.

FIFA already announced at the time that this edition will be held in Asia or Oceaniaso the hypothetical Australian candidacy was the only rival for Saudi Arabia, whose Federation confirmed last October 4 that it would surely apply to host the World Cup.

Saudi Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal said at the time that hosting the tournament would “help” the kingdom achieve its “dream” of becoming “a leading nation in world sport”. with an “important milestone in the transformation of the country”. “As an emerging and welcoming country for all sports, hosting a World Cup is the next natural step in our football journey,” he added.

Australia’s resignation came hours before the end of the period set by FIFA to submit candidacies. If the Middle Eastern country finally hosts the tournament that will be held in 11 years, it will be the second World Cup on Asian soil since 2022being the second in four editions.

2023-10-31 20:35:05
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