FIFA receives bids for uncontested 2030 and 2034 World Cups

The relevant FIFA Member Associations have submitted their bid books for hosting the 2030 and 2034 FIFA World Cup tournaments.

Following on from the bidding processes, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Secretary General Mattias Grafström received bid books for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups while in Paris.  

Fouzi Lekjaa of Morocco, Fernando Gomes of Portugal, and Álvaro de Miguel Casanueva of Spain submitted documents for the 2030 tournament. Claudio Tapia, Robert Harrison, Ignacio Alonso, and CONMEBOL President Alejandro Domínguez presented the bid for the 2030 centenary celebration.

Using details already available about the bid, the 2030 World Cup will be hosted by partnering countries Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with anniversary matches hosted in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. 

For the 2034 FIFA World Cup, the bid book was delivered by Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Sports, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal, Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) President Yasser Al Misehal, and Hammad Albalawi, Head of the SAFF’s bidding unit.

As apparent by this announcement, no other bids are being made for either World Cup. 

Following the official submission deadline of 31 July, the bid books and related documents will be made available on FIFA’s website. 

FIFA will evaluate the submissions and release its assessment report in Q4 2024. If the bids meet the requirements, the Extraordinary FIFA Congress will decide on the hosts for the 2030 and 2034 FIFA World Cups later in the year.

Infantino commented: “The submission of the bid books represents a key milestone in the bidding processes for the 2030 and 2034 editions of the FIFA World Cup as we aim to organise iconic celebrations of football and humanity.

“The seven bidding countries from four confederations have already given a lot to football, countries with great passion for the game, great organisational skills and a shared vision of what football and its values should be. Equally, these bidding processes prove that football unites the world.”

The absence of competition for hosting the tournaments has been compounded by warnings given to the organisation about the host countries.

In June, Amnesty International, a global non-governmental organisation, warned FIFA about safeguarding human rights by publishing a 91-page report. 

Although the report focuses on both tournaments, there is an emphasis on 2034. If Saudi Arabia is approved to host the tournament, it will be the second time the World Cup is held in the Middle East, after Qatar in 2022, which generated a media storm of concerns ahead of its tournament.