Saudis officially launch '34 World Cup campaign

Saudi Arabia launched its campaign to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup on Friday, a bid that is “all but certain to succeed due to the absence of any other expressions of interest” before FIFA's deadline late last year. The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) said its "Growing. Together" World Cup campaign would “showcase the way the nation was strengthening bonds with other countries through sport.” The next step in the process is the submission of the full bid documents to FIFA in July, with the appointment of hosts for both the 2030 and 2034 World Cups set to be “rubber stamped” at a FIFA Congress toward the end of the year (REUTERS, 3/1).

The bid launch gave “no new details of host cities and stadiums” for the 48-team tournament, expected to be held in November-December 2034. Saudi Arabia currently aims to host the tournament alone, though some games could later be shared with neighboring and nearby states (AP, 3/1).