The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has just been announced as the official host of the 2034 FIFA World Cup, the federation’s president confirmed on Tuesday. Following the success of the 2022 edition in Qatar, and the recent appointment of Morocco as a co-host of the 2030 tournament, Saudi Arabia will be the latest Arab country to host the prestigious competition. Held quadrennially, our region will see itself go from never having welcomed the tournament on its soil to being awarded two editions out of the next three.
The Kingdom was the only football association to present a bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup after Australia— the only other contenders— rescinded their application on the last day of submission. FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, confirmed the groundbreaking news through a post on his official Instagram account. In the caption, the 53-year-old enthusiastically recapped where and when the next iterations of the World Cup will take place.
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As things currently stand, Canada, the United States, and Mexico will collectively host the forthcoming edition in 2026 marking the first time the World Cup will take place across three countries at once. Morocco, Spain, and Portugal are then expected to pick up the torch and organize the milestone 100th anniversary of the tournament in 2030. To celebrate this significant moment, the three first opening games will respectively be held in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay— three key founding nations in the history of the World Cup— to honor their roles and achievements in the competition’s inception back in 1930.
For the uninitiated, the inaugural edition of the World Cup was held in Uruguay, where they emerged victorious against Argentina in the finals. Paraguay’s participation can be attributed to the fact that the South American Football Confederation’s headquarters have historically been located in Luque, a city near Asuncion, the country’s capital.
As Saudi Arabia continues to push into the realm of global sports, this recent announcement further emphasizes the Gulf State’s recent efforts to grow into a prominent global football hub. Coming after a myriad of heavy investments made into their domestic league and infrastructure, this development will adamantly bring the realization of their ambitions one step closer.
