Saudi Arabia confirmed as 2034 World Cup hosts

Saudi Arabia will host the FIFA World Cup in 2034 while the 2030 edition will be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with one-off matches in three South American countries.

This was confirmed by world football's governing body FIFA on Wednesday.

The decision was announced by FIFA President Gianni Infantino following a virtual extraordinary Congress. The 2030 and 2034 World Cups each had only a single bid and both were confirmed by acclamation.

"We are bringing football to more countries and the number of teams has not diluted the quality. It actually enhanced the opportunity," Infantino said about the 2030 World Cup.

"What better way to celebrate the 100th anniversary in 2030 than to have the World Cup in six countries, in three continents, with 48 teams and 104 epic matches. The world will stand still and will celebrate the 100 years of the World Cup.

"Congratulations to all the bidders for putting up a great dossier, but I would like to put on record my big, big thank you to the six confederation presidents and to their teams," he added.

The Kingdom to become first single-nation host of a 48-team FIFA World Cup™.#WelcomeToSaudi34 | #Saudi34 #GrowingTogether #SPAGOV pic.twitter.com/x5fEN4OuyJ

— SPAENG (@Spa_Eng) December 11, 2024

The combined proposal from Morocco, Spain and Portugal will see the 2030 World Cup take place across three continents and six nations, with Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay hosting celebratory games to mark the tournament's centenary.

Uruguay held the first World Cup in 1930, while Argentina and Spain have also staged the tournament. Portugal, Paraguay and Morocco will all be first-time hosts.

Four years later, Saudi Arabia will become the second nation from the Middle East to host the quadrennial tournament, 12 years after neighbours Qatar staged the 2022 edition.

In 2023, FIFA said that the 2034 World Cup would be held in the Asia or Oceania region, with the Asian Football Confederation throwing its support behind the Saudi bid.

Australia and Indonesia had also been in talks over a joint bid, but dropped out.

FIFA announced that both bids would be uncontested in 2023, leaving little room for doubt.

On Tuesday, FIFA said that the 2027 edition of the Women's World Cup will take place in Brazil between June 24 and July 25.

The 32-team tournament, the first edition of the women's world championship to be held in South America, will follow the same slot allocation for confederations as the 2023 editions, with 11 teams from European body UEFA qualifying directly.

Asia's AFC will have six direct slots, and Africa's CAF and North America's CONCACAF four each, while South America's CONMEBOL will have three and Oceania's OFC will have one.

The three remaining slots will be determined through a 10-team playoff tournament, played in two phases between November 2026 and February 2027.

Brazil, who won the hosting rights in May, will stage the tournament at between 10 and 12 venues, many of which were used during the 2014 men's World Cup.