RIYADH: FIFA officially ratified Saudi Arabia as host of the World Cup 2034 on Wednesday in what was a fairly drama-free affair for an obvious reason — the sport’s global governing body confirmed the name of the lone, uncontested bidder as the host.
Nevertheless, the country has proved itself worthy of the title after a journey of several years that culminated in achieving FIFA’s highest-ever rating for a bid submission and ultimately winning.
For the Kingdom, the journey from bidder to winner of the host of the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world came after an interesting turn of events.
The journey began with Saudi Arabia reportedly holding talks in September 2022 with sports chiefs in Egypt and Greece over an audacious joint bid to host the World Cup 2030.
“The three countries are working flat out” and “the application to organize the tournament is being studied,” Mohammed Fawzi, spokesman for the Egyptian Sports Ministry, said at the time.
Greece’s Hellenic Football Federation in Athens had also confirmed that the three countries were holding discussions about a joint bid.
However, whatever discussions were held did not result in a bid being submitted, and the Saudi Tourism Ministry in November 2022 confirmed that no official bid to host the World Cup 2030 was made.
Changing the plan, the Kingdom next year started seeking support for staging the mega sporting event alone in 2034, and in October 2023 announced its intention to bid to host the World Cup 2034.
On Oct. 9, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation submitted a letter of intent to bid to host the 2034 World Cup.
Yasser Al-Misehal, SAFF president, said at the time: “This is the second step of a hugely exciting journey that the nation is embarking on. The 2034 FIFA World Cup is our invitation to the world to witness Saudi Arabia’s development, experience its culture and become part of its history.”
Led by the SAFF, the bid for 2034 intended from the beginning to deliver a world-class tournament drawing inspiration from the Kingdom’s social and economic transformation and the deep-rooted passion for football.
Saudi Arabia’s inaugural bid was backed by the Kingdom’s growing experience of hosting world-class football events and its plans to welcome fans across the world to the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup and 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
Reflecting on the intention to bid, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman emphasized that Saudi Arabia’s desire to bid for the tournament was a reflection of the Kingdom’s progress in all sectors.
Under the Saudi Vision 2030, sport is playing a significant role in contributing to the country’s economic growth and enhancing the quality of life for all, and has an ability to unite and bring different cultures together.
The Kingdom said on Oct. 4, 2023 that it would bid for the 2034 event, minutes after the process was launched.
As a result of the tournament’s continental rotation, FIFA invited only member countries of the Asian and Oceanian confederations to apply.
Indonesia considered a joint bid with Australia, or other countries such as New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore, but on Oct. 19 it swung behind Saudi Arabia’s bid.
Australia, which hosted the Women’s World Cup 2023, was also a contender but withdrew its interest after the Asian Football Confederation’s decision to back the Saudi bid.
Football Australia chief executive James Johnson said bidding for the tournament was “not going to be favorable to Australia.”
He said: “Saudi is a strong bid. They have a lot of resources, and not just for the 2034 World Cup. From the government, top down they are prioritizing investment in football. That is difficult to compete with.”
Last October, a FIFA delegation arrived in the Kingdom to review the details of the bid. As proposed, 48 teams will be participating at venues in one country for the first time in history.
The delegation visited the Saudi cities proposed to host the tournament, inspected the sports projects and facilities included in the bid, and reviewed other preparations.
It was announced on Oct. 31, 2023 that the football World Cup, the biggest sports show on Earth, was set to come to Saudi Arabia.
“The Kingdom is the only remaining bidder for the 2034 tournament after sole rivals Australia pulled out,” the sport’s world governing body FIFA said, adding that the decision would be ratified officially at a special FIFA congress at the end of 2024.
On March 1, 2024 SAFF launched its formal bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2034 under the slogan “Growing Together.”
The campaign proved a formality when the Kingdom became the only country to enter the contest to host the tournament.
The federation, as part of its formal bid, has unveiled a bid logo, website, as well as a short film that celebrates the passion, spirit and diversity of football in the Kingdom.
Al-Misehal said: “Telling our football story to the world is of massive importance. And we believe ‘Growing Together’ is the perfect, yet simple description of our approach to hopefully hosting the tournament in 10 years’ time.”
The bid was submitted to FIFA officials in Paris on July 29, 2024 by a delegation headed by the Saudi minister of sports Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal, and Al-Misehal.
“With this candidacy, we intend to host the exceptional edition that brings together 48 teams for the first time in the history of the tournament in one country,” Prince Abdulaziz said at the time.
“Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2034 is a bid for the future. It is for our children and those who dream big,” he added.
The Kingdom’s bid to host the World Cup 2034 received a rating of 419.8 out of 500 in November 2024, the highest technical rating ever given by FIFA.
The announcement came just ahead of the federation’s general assembly on Dec. 11 that officially ratified Saudi Arabia as host of the World Cup 2034.
