Saudi Arabia Awarded the 2034 World Cup
On 11 December 2024, the FIFA Congress — meeting online in an Extraordinary session — confirmed Saudi Arabia as the host of the 2034 FIFA World Cup. The decision was taken by acclamation alongside the 2030 award to Morocco, Spain and Portugal, completing a process that began just 14 months earlier with the fastest bidding window in World Cup history.
The Kingdom had been the only bidder since Australia withdrew in October 2023. Its bid, scored 4.2 out of 5 in FIFA's evaluation — the highest mark ever published — proposed 15 stadiums in five cities, headlined by the 92,760-capacity King Salman International Stadium in Riyadh for the opening match and final.
Reaction split as it has throughout: celebration in the Kingdom and across much of Asian football; criticism from human-rights groups and a small number of federations about the process and the country's record. Both belong in the record, and both are covered on this site without spin. What is certain: the 25th World Cup, the third in Asia and the first hosted by a single nation since 2022, will be played in Saudi Arabia in 2034 — or, if the dates debate lands that way, in the first weeks of 2035.
What the award set in motion
The December 2024 confirmation started clocks across the Kingdom. Stadium programmes moved from bid drawings to construction schedules — Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium in Qiddiya broke ground the following year, and Aramco Stadium in Khobar entered the final phase of a build that began before the award, as an Asian Cup venue. The Saudi federation and FIFA began the operational build-out: host-city agreements, the local organising structures, and the long calendar of inspections and test events that leads, through the 2027 Asian Cup, to the tournament itself.
For fans, the award's immediate meaning was simpler: the destination is fixed. The 25th World Cup will be played in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, across the bid's five proposed cities, in a winter window yet to be set. Everything else — the stadium list's final shape, the dates, the draw, the tickets — is the subject of the updates that follow this one, in date order, on this site.
The reaction, for the record
Reaction in the Kingdom was led by the Crown Prince's framing of the award as a milestone in the country's sporting transformation, and by scenes of celebration in Riyadh and Jeddah. Abroad, the football world's response split along the lines the bid had already drawn: federations across Asia and Africa welcomed a tournament in the region; European commentary mixed footballing acceptance with the process criticisms recorded in our road-to-2034 timeline; and supporters' groups raised the questions — over dates, labour and access — that the eight years since have continued to argue. All of it is part of the award's record, and the timeline keeps it there, because a World Cup's history begins with how it was won as much as with how it is played.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was the 2034 World Cup awarded?
11 December 2024, at an online Extraordinary FIFA Congress that also confirmed the 2030 hosts. Saudi Arabia was the sole bidder and was confirmed by acclamation.