Saudi Arabia Says Bring It On to Hosting a 64-Team World Cup in 2034

Saudi Arabia would be “more than happy” to host an expanded 64-team men’s World Cup in 2034.

In December, the Gulf state was confirmed as the host for the 2034 edition of the competition following an unopposed bid. Saudi Arabia’s sports minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal, said his country would be able to “deliver” a bigger tournament. Next year’s North American World Cup will be the first 48-team edition, an increase from the 32-team format that ran from 1998 to 2022.

“I mean we’re ready, and or we will be ready, inshallah,” Prince Abdulaziz told reporters ahead of Sunday’s Formula One race in Jeddah. “If that’s a decision that FIFA takes and thinks that that’s a good decision for everyone, then we’re more than happy to deliver on it.”

The calls to expand the 2030 version to 64 nations have predominantly come from South America. Alejandro Dominguez, president of CONMEBOL which governs soccer in the continent, supported the idea earlier this month after Uruguayan official Ignacio Alonso raised the proposal at a FIFA Council meeting in March.

Dominguez’s argument was that, as the 2030 World Cup will represent the 100-year anniversary since the first tournament was held in Uruguay, it should be a celebratory and further expanded edition.

Uruguay, 2022 winners Argentina, and Paraguay which is home to CONMEBOL’s offices, are scheduled to host one match each at the start of the 2030 tournament. The remaining 101 games in the 48-team tournament are set to be split between Morocco, Portugal, and Spain.

The proposed expansion has also provoked criticism. Aleksander Ceferin, president of UEFA which is European soccer’s governing body, dismissed the proposal as a “bad idea” earlier this month. Last week, Concacaf president Victor Montagliani also spoke out against the idea. Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim, president of the Asian Football Confederation of which Saudi Arabia is a part, rejected the proposal as well, telling the Agence France-Presse that it would cause “chaos”.

A 48-team tournament sees a 40-match increase from 64 to 104 games. The addition of a further 16 nations would likely see a similar uptick. A further expansion of the World Cup would need to be voted through at the FIFA Council, which is the 37-person decision-making arm of world soccer’s governing body. The 48-team expansion was previously voted through unanimously in 2017.

One unanswered question ahead of the 2034 World Cup is whether Saudi Arabia will follow the 2022 World Cup in neighboring Qatar by hosting the tournament during winter to minimize concerns over high temperatures.

Prince Abdulaziz said that no decision has yet been reached but that there is “ongoing” dialogue with FIFA. “It is their decision to allocate the right timing,” he added.

“We are preparing everything to host it at the right time to make sure that the most important thing for us is the fan experience and to have everyone enjoy coming at the right time, at the right weather and so on.

“So yes, it’s going to be a challenge with hosting two big events, the World Cup and the 2034 Asian Games, in the same year. But I think both parties, whether it was FIFA or the OCA for the Asian Games, are open to see which is the best for the fans and for everyone to have a good discussion on that.”

There are also concerns over the rights and potential exploitation of migrant workers in the Middle Eastern nation ahead of the tournament, echoing similar concerns raised before the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

In December, an international charity warned that workers’ rights in Saudi Arabia were still an issue ahead of the 2034 World Cup. Major global human rights groups also urged FIFA to postpone the awarding of the tournament to Saudi Arabia until further reforms were introduced.

But Prince Abdulaziz said Saudi Arabia has “learned from Qatar” in the issues they encountered in the lead-up to their tournament.

“We met with the Qataris, what they’ve been through, what they’ve gone through,” he said.

“We have ongoing communication with them, with FIFA as well, on what needs to be done, how do we make sure that, you know, workers’ safety is a highest priority, and it’s a mandate on us, and it’s one of the most important things on us because we saw the impact that it had on Qatar.”

Saudi officials have repeatedly spoken about the progress the kingdom has made in recent years, including on labor rights, and have promised to comply with FIFA’s rules. They also point to the glowing technical assessment FIFA gave their bid earlier in December.