Australia decided on Tuesday to abandon its bid to host the 2034 Football World Cup, further strengthening the position of Saudi Arabia, more than ever favorite to host the event. Good news for the Middle Eastern country which previously aimed for the 2030 World Cup.
Australia decided on Tuesday to abandon its bid to host the 2034 Football World Cup, further strengthening the position of Saudi Arabia, more than ever favorite to host the event. “We studied the possibility of submitting a bid to host the FIFA World Cup and, after taking into account all factors, we decided not to do so for the competition organized in 2034,” writes the Football Federation Australia in a press release.
After announcing that it was in discussions with Australia for a joint candidacy for the organization of the 2034 World Cup, the Indonesian football federation finally supported the Saudi candidacy around ten days ago, already officially supported by the Asian Confederation of soccer.
Saudi Arabia well placed
The deadline for sending applications was set for October 31 by the international football federation (Fifa). After the designation at the beginning of October of Spain, Morocco and Portugal as hosts of the 2030 edition of the World Cup, Fifa launched a call for applications for that of 2034, limiting it to the Asian and Oceanic confederations, in the name of the principle of rotation.
Saudi Arabia, which was already targeting the 2030 World Cup, is currently investing massively to carve out a place in world football, like its clubs, which for example managed to attract this summer the Frenchman Karim Benzema or the Brazilian Neymar.