FIFA has confirmed the hosts of the 2030 and 2034 men’s World Cups. The 2030 tournament will see matches played in six nations across three continents and the 2034 edition will take place in Saudi Arabia. The elected hosts for both tournaments came as no surprise as each only attracted one bid.
2030 World Cup
The 2030 World Cup will begin with three matches in South America to honour the 100th anniversary of the inaugural tournament in Paraguay in 1930. Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina will each host one match.
The remainder of the tournament will be split between Morocco, Portugal, and Spain. FIFA has not yet decided where the Final will be played but have narrowed it down to three stadiums: Madrid’s Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Barcelona’s Camp Nou, or Casablanca’s yet-to-be-completed Grand Stade Hassan II.
2034 World Cup
In 2034 Saudi Arabia will become the second Middle Eastern country to host the tournament, after Qatar in 2022. The country has proposed building and renovating 185,000 hotel rooms and several stadiums to accommodate the world’s most-watched sporting event.
Australia had considered a joint bid with either Indonesia or New Zealand for the 2034 Cup but both fell through. By October 2023 Saudi Arabia was the only country in Asia that had submitted a bid to host the tournament.
Backlash
Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the event has been widely described by human rights groups as an act of sports washing to improve its reputation and global standing in light of its poor human rights record.
Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s head of labour rights and sport, said: “FIFA’s reckless decision to award the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia without ensuring adequate human rights protections are in place will put many lives at risk”.
What they said
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said: “These are game-changers for the entire world and the most important [part] of it is that all these decisions on the hosts of the ([FIFA men’s] World Cup have been taken by consensus, by agreement, by compromise between everyone”.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, president of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said: “This is a historic moment for Saudi Arabia and a dream come true for all our 32 million people who simply love the game… today is another huge step forward that reflects and celebrates our progress while looking ahead to an even brighter future.”
And the next World Cup?
The next football World Cup is in 2026 and is being hosted between Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.
