FIFA confirms Saudi Arabia as 2034 World Cup host

FIFA have confirmed that Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup at Wednesday's Extraordinary Fifa Congress meeting following a vote.

The Middle East nation were the sole bidders for the finals in 10 years, with an online FIFA Congress voting in favour of their staging despite controversy surrounding the bid.

Morocco, Spain, and Portugal will co-host the 2030 World Cup, with the first three matches of that tournament held in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.

The opening match of the 2030 World Cup will be played in Uruguay to mark 100 years since the inaugural 1930 finals when La Celeste beat Argentina in the showpiece match.

After that, the next two games will be staged in Argentina and Paraguay respectively, before the rest of the tournament is played in the three main co-host countries.

The agreement for South America to stage the opening games in 2030 - reached in October last year - paved the way for Saudi Arabia to be the sole host in 2034.

Australia, considered the only realistic challengers to Saudi Arabia, confirmed on October 31 last year that they would not be bidding.

The Football Association also supported the 2030 and 2034 bids, and is expected to issue a statement later explaining their decision.

#WelcomeToSaudi34 - a nation's dream made possible thanks our leadership’s vision and ambition of our people.#Saudi34 pic.twitter.com/BOo2KnjGYk

— Saudi Arabia FIFA World Cup 2034 (@Saudi2034) December 11, 2024