Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup

Hosts for 2030 have also been announced

Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup

The election was just a formality, now it is official. Fifa will award the World Cup in ten years to the only applicant – he is criticized.

The 2034 World Cup will take place in Saudi Arabia. The controversial decision, which had already been hinted at in advance, was announced this Wednesday at the FIFA Congress. The members voted by acclamation, i.e. by applause.

Saudi Arabia was the only candidate, but the award is still controversial because the country is repeatedly accused of serious human rights violations. Nevertheless, the German Football Association also voted for the desert state as host.

There was also only one application for 2030, but it included several countries: Spain and Portugal are organizing the tournament together with Morocco. In addition, due to the 100th anniversary of the World Cup, games will take place in Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina.

A series of measures unanimously decided by the Fifa Council, of which DFB President Bernd Neuendorf is also a member, paved the way for Saudi Arabia to accelerate the process. This includes, for example, the merging of the two applications for the 2030 World Cup, short deadlines that made counter-candidatures for 2034 much more difficult, but also the awarding of the two tournaments in a double pack.

Because every second World Cup since the Second World War has been played in Europe, FIFA decided on a rotation principle more than 20 years ago. Accordingly, world championships should really take place worldwide. Each continent should take a turn. The procedure was modified in 2007.

From now on, only the continental associations that had already held the last two World Cups should be excluded. This means that the 2030 World Cup should not take place in Asia or North and Central America, as the tournament took place in Qatar (Asia) in 2022 and will be held in the USA, Mexico and Canada (North and Central America) in 2026.

Saudi Arabia was still considering a joint application with Egypt and Greece for 2030, but according to the Spanish newspaper “Marca” it saw no chances against Spain, Morocco and Portugal. The only competitor was the South American quartet from Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile.

But because there were two continents behind Spain, Morocco and Portugal (Europe and Africa), the South American application was considered an outsider.

It is not uncommon for unsuccessful applicants to apply for the subsequent tournament. The South American quartet could also have applied around 2034. Given that the last World Cup on South American soil took place in Brazil in 2014, it would have had good arguments on its side.

But with the XXL World Cup in six countries on three continents, FIFA cleared the way for Saudi Arabia. Because Africa, Europe, South America and North and Central America are not eligible for applications due to the award regulations. Only Asia and Oceania remained in the draw. But other interested parties such as Australia ultimately decided against applying. According to media reports, this is also due to the controversial measures. And so the 2034 World Cup fell to Saudi Arabia.