Saudi Arabia and cross-continental hosts

Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 Men’s World Cup, FIFA officially announced on Wednesday. And in 2030, Morocco, Portugal and Spain will co-host the anniversary tournament, while Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will each host a single game.

The bidding process for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups was hardly competitive and was ultimately decided before the extraordinary session of FIFA Congress on Wednesday, where the football association’s president, Gianni Infantino, made it official.

After the United States, Canada and Mexico made history by hosting the 2026 World Cup in three countries, the 2030 World Cup will be held on three continents for the first time.

The return to Uruguay is intended to commemorate the first World Cup, which the South American country hosted and won in 1930, with Argentina finishing second. Conmebol, the South American Football Confederation, is headquartered in Paraguay.

The World Cup returns to Spain for the first time since 1982, while Portugal, Morocco and Paraguay will host World Cup matches for the first time. Morocco will be the first North African country to host the tournament, which was first held on the continent when South Africa hosted in 2010.

The 2034 World Cup will return to the Middle East 12 years after the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. Like Qatar, Saudi Arabia also presents a host of challenges, including human rights and environmental issues, weather and scheduling issues, and working conditions for stadiums and other infrastructure needed over the next 10 years.

Because FIFA alternates hosting the World Cup across continental regions, the competition for the 2030 and 2034 bids was not as competitive.

Infantino initially shared the goals for the 2030 World Cup on October 4, 2023, leaving Australia in the Oceanic Federation only 25 days to submit a bid, while Saudi Arabia was already prepared for this opportunity. Australia and Indonesia briefly pursued a joint bid for the 2034 tournament.

The window for Saudi Arabia to make a bid for Asia essentially fell into the country’s hands, with the 2026 iteration taking place in North America and 2030 in Europe, North Africa and South America.

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Saudi Arabia and cross-continental hosts

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