2034 World Cup: Australia Gives Saudi Arabia Edge To Win Bid

Australia has given Saudi Arabia an edge to win the bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup by withdrawing from the bidding process earlier today, October 31, 2023.

The Australia Football Association announced its intention to withdraw from the bidding process hours before Fifa’s deadline for declarations of interest.

In the announcement, Australia declared that it would focus its energy on hosting the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in 2026 and the Club World Cup in 2029.

“We have concluded not to do so for the 2034 competition,” Australia FA said.

This means that Saudi Arabia is the only country still in the race to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup and will certainly get the rights since it has no competitors.

Once its bid is confirmed, the country will become the second Middle Eastern country after Qatar, to host the prestigious FIFA World Cup.

The country will be hosting the World Cup four years after a record-breaking edition of the tournament in which 6 countries from three continents will host the tournament simultaneously for the first time in the history of the tournament.

Before then, the tournament will be hosted in North America by three different countries – the US, Mexico, and Canada, which is also a first in the history of the tournament. That same edition will feature 48 teams for the first time in the history of the tournament.

Since the 2034 World Cup is most likely to be hosted in Saudi Arabia, the lone bidder for the edition of the tournament, the edition is most likely to take place in the winter of 2034, due to the unfriendly weather in Saudi Arabia during summer,  just like the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.