Saudi Arabia Football Federation launched a formal bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup on Friday after showing initial interest in October last year. With no other team in the race, it seems only a formality for Saudi Arabia to win the hosting rights to organise the 25th edition of the Men's Football World Cup.
Saudi Arabia were the only team to submit an initial bid before FIFA's deadline on October 31, 2023. Asian football giants now have launched a campaign 'Growing. Together' with a formal bid to FIFA.
"Telling our football story to the world is of massive importance, " SAFF president Yasser Al Misehal said. " And we believe Growing. Together. is the perfect, yet simple description of our approach to hopefully hosting the tournament in 10 years’ time. Bidding to host a FIFA World Cup is only made possible by the rapid transformation the country is enjoying. We’ve made unprecedented progress in both the men’s and women’s games and our bid is an open invitation to the world to join us on this exciting journey. As we proved when we welcomed over 100 nationalities to the FIFA Club World Cup Saudi Arabia 2023 in Jeddah, the future is bright when we grow together."
United States, Canada and Mexico are co-hosting the next Men's FIFA World Cup in 2026 while Western European nations Spain, Portugal and Morocco have won the hosting rights for the 2030 edition. However, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will also host one game each in 2030.
Saudi Arabia are looking to host the entire 48-team tournament alone as they possess financial stability and infrastructure. Saudi Arabia famously defeated eventual champions Argentina in the 2022 FIFA World Cup group-stage game but failed to progress to the knockouts. Salman Al-Faraj-led Saudi Arabia are currently ranked 53rd in the FIFA Men's team standings and were knocked out from the Round of 16 in the AFC Asian Cup last month.
