Saudi Arabia has been announced as the host nation for the 2034 Men’s World Cup, with FIFA rubber-stamping the confirmation of the 2030 and 2034 editions of the tournament on Dec. 11.
A joint bid involving Morocco, Portugal and Spain, combined with one game each in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay to mark the centenary of the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930, will be confirmed by FIFA for 2030 due to being the only bid for that competition’s hosting rights.
As the only candidate to stage the 2034 Men’s World Cup, Saudi Arabia will become the second Middle East nation to host the tournament after Qatar in 2022. And just as Qatar 2022 was shrouded in controversy from the moment the tiny Arabian Gulf state was confirmed as host in December 2010, the decision to take football’s biggest event to Saudi Arabia has also raised questions.
Even though the 2034 Men’s World Cup is still a decade away, there are plenty of issues surrounding Saudi Arabia 2034, including human rights, such as the treatment of women and the LGBTQIA+ community, the requirement to build stadiums and infrastructure, the potential climate, depending on the tournament would be played, and the overall experience.
Why was Saudi Arabia the only bid for 2034?
When the bidding process for 2030 and 2034 was announced in Oct 2023, the FIFA Council adopted a so-called “principle of confederation rotation” to ensure that five of its six confederations — Europe (UEFA), South America (CONMEBOL), Asia (AFC), Africa (CAF) and Oceania (OFC) — would be considered as potential hosts. Concacaf, the North and Central American confederation, was omitted due to the 2026 Men’s World Cup being staged in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
With Qatar hosting in 2022, Asia would ordinarily have had to wait until 2042 to host another World Cup under the terms of confederation rotation, but the decision to stage the 2030 tournament across three confederations (UEFA, CAF and CONMEBOL) suddenly pushed Oceania and Asia to the front of the line in 2034.
With Australia leaving the OFC for the AFC in 2006, no Oceania nation is capable of hosting a Men’s World Cup: New Zealand lacks the stadiums to do so. Australia explored a joint bid with New Zealand, but Football Australia announced it would not proceed with that proposal in Oct. 2023. A joint bid with Indonesia was also considered before the Indonesians opted to back Saudi Arabia. The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) considered a 10-nation bid involving nations such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Laos, but that also failed to develop as Indonesia threw its support behind the Saudi bid.
Despite Chinese president Xi Jinping having previously targeted the hosting of a men’s World Cup, China did not enter the bidding process, leaving Saudi Arabia as the only 2034 bidder by the end of October 2023.
Having announced the bid selection process in October 2023, FIFA only gave potential hosts 26 days to formulate a bid proposal, but when addressing the 47 AFC members during an online conference that month, Infantino called for Asia “to be united for the 2034 World Cup,” prompting senior figures from Asian FAs to swiftly back the Saudi bid.
“Japan has a plan to host the FIFA World Cup by 2050, but now it’s time for Asia to get united and make a single bid [for 2034],” Japanese federation official Tsuneyasu Miyamoto said, while Indonesian Football Federation president Erick Thohir said, “Indonesia supports Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2034. Indonesia continues to prepare for its bid to host the FIFA World Cup after 2034, as well as other FIFA competitions.”
Saudi Arabia has hired Populous, the stadium architects who designed the Lusail Stadium in Qatar and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, to work on several 2034 projects including the Aramco Stadium in Al Khobar, Qiddiya’s Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium and the 92,760-capacity King Salman Stadium in Riyadh, which will host the World Cup final. All of the proposed new venues, including Neom, are due to be finished by 2032, although Saudi Arabia is aiming to have three new stadiums ready for its hosting of the AFC Asian Cup in 2027.
The 2034 World Cup will be the first time an expanded 48-nation tournament will be held in one country, hence the need for a major stadium building plan. And while finance is unlikely to be an issue for one of the world’s richest nations, it was announced in October that the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund) will reduce overseas investments from 30% of the fund down to 18-20% in order to focus more finances on domestic projects.
What’s happening on the pitch in Saudi Arabia with the Pro League and the national team?
There are two strands to this. First of all, Saudi Arabia (known as the Arabian Falcons) have been a major power in Asian football for many years: only Japan (4) have won more Asian Cups than Saudi Arabia’s three (1984, 1988, 1996). Saudi have also lost three finals, in 1992, 2000 and 2007. Outside the region, they’ve qualified for six World Cups dating back to U.S. 1994, and they famously defeated eventual champions Argentina in their opening game at Qatar 2022.
As host nation, Saudi Arabia will automatically qualify for 2034 and will expect to progress from the group stage, but the strength and depth of their squad may also depend on the growth and success of the Saudi Pro League, which has become a lucrative destination for global stars in recent years.
Since the Saudi government allowed clubs to make huge financial offers for overseas players in 2022, the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr), Karim Benzema (Al Ittihad) and Neymar (Al Hilal) have all arrived in the Pro League. In the 2023 summer transfer window alone, Saudi Pro League clubs spent almost $1 billion on 94 players from European leagues, largely due to several teams benefiting from the backing of the PIF, which is estimated to be worth almost $1 trillion.
Each Pro League team is allowed to have up to 10 foreign players in a squad of 25, so the influx of overseas stars will either help raise the level of homegrown Saudi players or deny them the opportunity to develop, and therefore impact on the quality of the national team. But is the mammoth investment in the Pro League paying off?
Saudi football is certainly benefiting from increased international exposure due to the presence of Ronaldo, Neymar and others, but the average attendance for the league in the 2023-24 season was just 8,158 — a fall of 15.9% from the previous season (9,701). Al Ahli, based in Jeddah, are the best supported team in Saudi Arabia. Their highest attendance in 2023-24 was 52,037, but their lowest was 8,489, with a season average of 24,370, As for Al Nassr, the Riyadh-based team grew their average attendance by just 1% in Ronaldo’s first full season, recording an average crowd of 17,822 at Al-Awwal Park.
Overall, eight of the 18 Pro League team recorded attendances of lower than 1,000 for league games last season, with Al-Hazem playing in front of just 117 fans in a Pro League fixture against Abha in May 2024.
What do the players say about the Saudi Pro League?
Aside from the polished PR updates from the Saudi Pro League, with players talking up the quality of facilities and backing of the fans — Neymar spoke about “feeling the intense passion of the Al Hilal fans” — unvarnished comments from players in Saudi Arabia are more difficult to find.
Former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson spent less last than six months in Saudi Arabia with Al Ettifaq, managed by Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, before leaving for Ajax last January. Henderson, who had previously worked closely with the LGBTQIA+ community while at Liverpool, was widely criticised for his move to Saudi Arabia, where same-sex relations is a criminal offence. When Henderson signed for Al Ettifaq, the club published images of the player with the rainbow captain’s armband worn at Liverpool grayed out.
On leaving Saudi Arabia, however, Henderson was diplomatic when asked about his time at Al Ettifaq, with a message to their fans saying, “I really felt the love from day one. I’ll keep watching and hoping for your success.” He added, “I think a lot of people would like me to sit here and criticise the Saudi league and everything that went along with that, but that certainly wasn’t the case. It’s not something I’m going to do.”
Former Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte, who plays for Al Nassr, said in January that “many players are discontented” in Saudi Arabia, adding, “In terms of quality of life, I expected something different, because in the end here you spend three hours a day in the car. Riyadh is a waste of traffic, of time wasted in the car.”
Karim Benzema, meanwhile, denied reports earlier this year that he was unhappy at Al Ittihad by saying, “This is completely false! The media no longer knows what to invent.”
Are there concerns about human rights issues around Saudi Arabia 2034?
FIFA has been criticised by several human rights groups for its decision to accept Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the 2034 World Cup. “FIFA set clear human rights standards that any bidding country must meet, yet it is clear that Saudi Arabia’s bid for the 2034 World Cup currently falls far short,” said Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Labour Rights and Sport.
“The bid’s human rights plan simply ignores many of the enormous risks associated with hosting a mega sporting event in a country with such an atrocious human rights record. Saudi Arabia’s World Cup human rights plan says nothing about the brutal muzzling of human rights activists or criminalisation of LGBTI people, nor does it outline whether or how it will put an end in practice to the abusive kafala system that exploits migrant workers. It is astonishing that such blatant risks can be so flagrantly ignored.
“The best chance for FIFA to obtain binding guarantees to protect workers’ rights, ensure freedom of expression and prevent discrimination linked to the World Cup is during the host selection process — not after the hosts have been confirmed and tournament preparation has begun.”
Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, echoed the comments made by Amnesty International.
“Given the enormous scale of the World Cup, there are far-reaching human rights risks to consider with all bids to host this tournament, as well as opportunities for change that should not be missed,” Worden said. “FIFA’s human rights policy must not be reduced to a paper exercise when it comes to choosing the host of the world’s most watched sporting event.”
When asked by ESPN for comments on the concerns of human rights groups, a FIFA spokesperson said, “FIFA is implementing thorough bidding processes for the 2030 and 2034 editions of the FIFA World Cup, in line with previous processes for the selection of hosts for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand, the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the United States, Mexico and Canada and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 in Brazil.”
Is hosting the 2034 World Cup a sportswashing exercise, or simply Saudi Arabia embracing football?
“Sportswashing” is a term to describe the practice of using sport to improve reputations tarnished by allegations of wrongdoing or malpractice. It is a deflection tactic to shift focus away from negative perceptions to present a more positive picture of a nation, individual or corporation.
Saudi Arabia is not the first country to be accused of sportswashing, particularly in relation to accusations of human rights breaches. Russia and Qatar hosted the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively amid concerns over their human rights records. Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, which are connected to the royal families of Abu Dhabi and Qatar, respectively, have also been cited as vehicles designed to clean the reputations of their owners.
Newcastle United’s majority owner is the Saudi Arabian PIF, which also owns and bankrolls LIV Golf. Saudi Arabia has also become the top venue for major world championship boxing fights, and the country stages a Formula One race in Jeddah. However, the men’s World Cup would be the biggest sporting event ever hosted by Saudi Arabia, with only the Olympic Games coming close to rivalling the tournament for significance on the sporting calendar.
Sport is regarded by Mohammed bin Salman as a crucial element of his Vision 2030 project. He told Fox News in September 2023 that he is unconcerned by accusations that Saudi Arabia is using sportswashing to rehabilitate its reputation through sport.
“If sportswashing is going to increase my GDP by 1%, then we’ll continue doing sportswashing,” Bin Salman said. “I don’t care [about the term]. I have 1% growth in GDP from sport and I am aiming for another 1.5%.”
The flip side to the sportswashing accusation is that rather than positively impacting a country’s reputation, involvement in high-profile sport only succeeds in sharpening the focus on human rights or other issues. A report by the Atlantic Council, an American think tank in the field of global affairs, in January 2024 suggested, however, that Saudi Arabia’s increased involvement in sport is an attempt to change the mindset of the nation and prepare for a time when its oil reserves — Saudi is estimated to have less than 80 years of production left — run dry.
For Chadwick, a comparison can be made between Qatar and Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the World Cup from the perspective of nation-building.
“I guess a comparison could be made with Qatar, because I think Qatar used the World Cup as a nation-building exercise,” Chadwick said. “What all of these events are doing is they’re leading to the creation of the civil society — even things like pavements and roads — that Saudi Arabia has never had before. But of course, this is a really big country, and the kind of transformation that we saw in Qatar will not necessarily follow the same trajectory in Saudi Arabia because the country is huge. I think Saudi Arabia by land mass is the 13th-biggest country in the world.
“Clearly, the World Cup alone cannot transform a country of that size. But it is part of a trajectory.”
The 2034 World Cup feels a long way away, so which players might end up being the stars of the tournament?
Here’s a thought: Spain’s Lamine Yamal stole the show at Euro 2024 as a 16-year-old, so there will be kids aged just 6 or 7 right now who could be the next big thing by the time the 2034 World Cup comes around. But barring injury, Yamal is almost certain to be one of the biggest names at the 2034 World Cup when he will be 26 or 27, depending on when the tournament is staged.
Cavan Sullivan, the 15-year-old Philadelphia Union midfielder who has penned a deal to sign for Manchester City, could be main man for the USMNT in 2034, while Real Madrid’s Endrick will be 28 and likely leading the forward line for Brazil.
England’s Cole Palmer is still only 22, so the Chelsea forward should still be a major player by the time he is 32 in 2034, but with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi both on course to play at the 2026 World Cup aged 40 and 38 respectively, any star player under the age of 30 right now could target a Saudi swan song in 10 years’ time. Kobbie Mainoo, Arda Guler, Warren Zaire-Emery, Alejandro Garnacho, Pau Cubarsi, Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz and Mathys Tel are all set to be at their peak in 2034, so it already looks like being a tournament of stars.
As for Ronaldo, he’ll be 49 and long retired — won’t he?
