FIFA named the hosts of the 2030 and 2034 World Cups on Wednesday: Spain, Portugal and Morocco won the first edition and Saudi Arabia controversially won the second.
There is minimal surprise at the result given that both decisions have been considered a foregone conclusion as there was only one candidate for each event.
Both bids have been scrutinized, but it is the awarding of the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia that has created and will continue to create the most controversy.
Human rights concerns have been vehemently expressed in the build-up to the decision to award the event to the Gulf nation.
It is well documented that the abuse of migrant workers, freedom of expression and the rights of minority groups are highly problematic, as is the 2022 World Cup in nearby Qatar.
Saudi Arabia World Cup Chronology
We trace the chain of events that led to Saudi Arabia winning the hosting rights for the 2034 FIFA World Cup, which would be 12 years after Qatar. Saudi Arabia will also be the first country to host the new 48-team World Cup format on its own, with the expansion to 32 teams starting with the 2026 World Cup.
- June 23, 2023: The joint offer from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Greece is withdrawn. Had it won, it would have been the first men’s or women’s World Cup held in countries belonging to three different football federations (AFC, CAF and UEFA) and on three different continents (Asia, Africa and Europe), as well as the first men’s tournament. celebrated in more than one continental confederation.
- October 4, 2023: Saudi Arabia’s bid for the solo World Cup is announced. Even though Qatar’s 2022 bid requires a winter tournament to be held due to the summer heat, the Saudi Federation insists on holding a summer event.
- October 5, 2023: AFC President Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa backs Saudi Arabia’s bid to host its own World Cup.
- October 9, 2023: Saudi Arabia announces that it has submitted an official letter of intent and signed a declaration to FIFA on hosting the 2034 World Cup, with more than 70 different member associations pledging to support the bid.
- October 31, 2023: After FIFA announced the bid timeline, Saudi Arabia was quick to confirm its candidacy, while Australia considered partnering with Indonesia before withdrawing from the process, leaving the Saudi bid as the only candidate.
- July 31, 2024: Saudi Arabia’s official stadium list is confirmed, including Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar, Abha and Neom, with a total of 15 venues, with King Salman Stadium expected to host the opening match and final.
- November 30, 2024: FIFA publishes its evaluation of Saudi Arabia’s bid with an average score of 4.2 out of five, making it the highest performing bid to host the World Cup in history.
- December 11, 2024: FIFA confirms at its Congress that Saudi Arabia has been ratified as the host nation of the 2034 World Cup.
Saudi Arabia has been investing heavily in sports in recent years through its sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), including sports outside of football, 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 been mainly on football.
English Premier League side Newcastle United are 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 home World Cup is the next logical 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 restructuring.
Like Qatar, the 2034 World Cup on Saudi soil is already attracting fierce human rights criticism, while questions remain over Qatar’s true legacy.
