2034 FIFA World Cup
The 2034 FIFA World Cup will be the 25th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It is set to be hosted in Saudi Arabia, as it was the only nation to submit a bid in time for FIFA's deadline of 31 October 2023.
كَأْسُ الْعَالَم لِكُرَّةُ الْقَدَم 2034 Kaʾs al-ʿālam li-kurat al-qadam 2034 | |
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Tournament details | |
Host country | Saudi Arabia |
Teams | 48 (from 6 confederations) |
FIFA restricted the hosting eligibility to Asia or Oceania after it made the decision to host the 2030 World Cup on three continents (Africa, Europe and South America). Observers characterised this as paving the path for Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 World Cup by substantially reducing potential competing host bids. FIFA also unexpectedly sped up the bidding timeline by at least three years, which hindered other potential bidders. According to reporting by The New York Times, FIFA president Gianni Infantino played a key role in the selection of Saudi Arabia as host.