FIFA has announced that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will host the men’s football World Cup in 2034. The Saudi bid was the sole contender and received support from over 200 FIFA member federations who participated remotely in an online meeting led by the soccer organisation’s president, Gianni Infantino, in Zurich on Wednesday.
The announcement coincided with the approval of the only bid to host the 2030 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, with Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay each staging one of the 104 matches.
The South American collaboration will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Uruguay’s hosting of the inaugural World Cup in 1930.
The decision on Wednesday wraps up a 15-month bidding process that FIFA president Gianni Infantino guided towards Saudi Arabia without any competing bids, without addressing any inquiries, and which human rights organisations caution could endanger migrant workers’ lives.
FIFA and Saudi officials say that organising the 2034 tournament has the potential to promote change, including increased rights and freedoms for women. It will initiate a decade-long examination of Saudi labour laws and the treatment of workers primarily from South Asia who will be necessary to construct and upgrade 15 stadiums, hotels, and transportation systems in preparation for the 104-game tournament.
One of the stadiums is set to be 350 metres above ground in Neom—a futuristic city that has yet to be built—while another, named after the crown prince, is planned to be positioned on a 200-metre cliff near Riyadh.
Throughout the bidding campaign, FIFA allowed little scrutiny into Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, which faced criticism this year at the United Nations. The kingdom intends to invest tens of billions of dollars in initiatives related to the World Cup as part of the crown prince’s ambitious Vision 2030 program, which seeks to modernise Saudi society and its economy.
At the centre of this initiative is funding for sports through the $900 billion Public Investment Fund, which the crown prince oversees.
Critics have labelled this an attempt to improve the kingdom’s image through sports activities.
The crown prince, often referred to as MBS, has developed close collaborations with Infantino since 2017, opting to partner with the organiser of the most-watched global sports event rather than directly confronting established structures, as demonstrated with the controversial LIV Golf project.
The outcome for Saudi Arabia and FIFA was a seamless advancement toward the win announced on Wednesday, with limited opposition from soccer officials, albeit some dissent from international women players.
FIFA has introduced a new, higher-tier sponsorship category for the state oil company Aramco. Saudi funding is expected to finance the 2025 Club World Cup in the United States, an initiative of Infantino.
