Saudi Arabia lead race to host FIFA World Cup 2034

Qatar was the last Middle East nation to host the World Cup

There was a lot of speculation last week that Saudi Arabia would be a lock to host the 2034 tournament as a result of FIFA's decision to award hosting rights to six nations from three continents for the 2030 World Cup.

A Saudi World Cup in 2034 is already practically a done deal, according to individuals close to the corridors of power, who spoke to MailSport. The event will bring in fresh revenues of billions of dollars for FIFA.

The three opening games for the 2030 World Cup, which will take place 100 years after Uruguay hosted the first World Cup, will each be hosted by Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay, according to a surprising announcement made by FIFA on Wednesday.

And the remaining 101 games in a 104-game, 48-team competition will be split between Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. Environmentalists criticised FIFA for the increased carbon footprint that this agreement will have. However, the majority of the competition will take place in a very congenial time zone for most of the world, in a relatively narrow geographic region of south-west Europe and north-west Africa.

Because FIFA also declared that only candidates from Asia and Oceania would be eligible to host the 2034 World Cup, Australia is undoubtedly the country most outraged by these events.

And just as they were making this announcement, Saudi Arabia declared they would submit a bid for 2034. Exactly by chance!

The most prominent figure in Asian football, Sheikh Salman of Bahrain, then made the following statement: "The entire Asian football family will stand united in support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's momentous initiative, and we are committed to working closely with the global football family to ensure its success."

Australia, which currently belongs to the Asian Confederation, was extremely irritated by this. They aim to host 2034 after hosting the fantastic 2023 Women's World Cup. However, Saudi Arabia will get all 54 votes from Africa and the majority of the 47 votes from Asia.