How FIFA helped pave the way for Saudi 2034

In October 2023, FIFA made a surprising move that effectively set the stage for Saudi Arabia’s bid to host a future FIFA World Cup when it announced that the FIFA Council had unanimously agreed that the sole candidacy for the World Cup in 2030 would be "the combined bid of Morocco, Portugal, and Spain." 

In the same announcement, the FIFA Council detailed the bidding process for the 2034 World Cup and specified that it would follow “the principle of confederation rotation and of securing the best possible hosting conditions for the tournaments.”  

As a result, only countries from the Asian Football Confederation and the Oceania Football Confederation were eligible to bid for 2034. FIFA subsequently set a tight 25-day window for countries to formally express interest.  

Just 81 minutes after FIFA’s announcement, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation declared its intent to bid for the 2034 World Cup.   

As the deadline neared, Australia, Saudi Arabia’s only potential competitor announced its decision not to compete for the bid and instead focus on securing hosting rights for the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup and possibly the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup.  

On 15 May 2024, Australia was announced as host for the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup while the decision on the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup is still pending. 

In another historic development, on 3 October 2024, FIFA detailed the voting procedure for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups, which had been approved unanimously by the FIFA Council. 

The voting procedure and the decision on the hosts will be taken en bloc. This means that since FIFA operates with a one-nation-one-vote system, you either vote yes or no for both tournaments at the same time.