It is known that the next World Cup, which will take place in 2026, will be hosted by three countries (the United States, Canada and Mexico). They battled Morocco for the right to host the World Cup, but Morocco’s bid ultimately lost 65:134 in the vote. However, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has at least made a choice between two options, because the hosts of the 2030 and 2034 World Cups will, it seems, be determined on a non-alternative basis…

FIFA officially announced that the 2030 FIFA World Cup will be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco on October 4 this year. Officially this decision will have to be approved at next year’s organizing congress, but these are just trifles due to the application of two European and one African country (previously Ukraine was trying to join Spain and Portugal, but then it somehow happened too quickly and was “technically” approved) the joint application was replaced by the Moroccans, in response to which the domestic officials continue to resolutely maintain complete silence) the only application and therefore it will be absolutely impossible not to choose it as the winner.

Additionally, FIFA surprised with another decision when choosing the countries that will host the 2030 World Cup. The truth is that the World Cup, which will take place in seven years, will be an anniversary for world football; It will take place in the year when the centenary of the first World Cup in history will be celebrated. The 1930 World Cup was held in Uruguay, and the first winner of the now cult competition was the national team of this country. In this context, FIFA, as expected, will provide the opportunity to host the 2030 World Cup exclusively to representatives of South America who have shown great interest in organizing the tournament.

However, after “extensive consultations”, FIFA made a “unique decision” that allows Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay not only to enter the 2030 World Cup without qualification, but also to play their first matches in the tournament at their home stadiums. . In other words, three matches of the World Cup, which will be held in the fields of Spain, Portugal and Morocco, will be played in South America (one match each in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay) as part of a centenary celebration. from the first World Cup.

At first glance, FIFA made a kind of “Solomon decision” when it found a certain compromise and balanced the interests of all parties. But on the other hand, if everything were so clear and even seemed fair to some extent, FIFA would not be FIFA, and its president Gianni Infantino would not be himself.

As we know, the devil is in the details. And perhaps the most interesting thing in history begins with the selection of host countries not only for the 2030 World Cup, but also for the 2034 World Cup, which is directly linked to the previous World Cup. The fact is that, according to an unspoken rule that has long existed in FIFA, when choosing the location of the next World Cup, the so-called “rotation of the continents” must occur. That is, conditional Europe cannot theoretically pretend to host two World Cups in a row, or at least do it with a draw.

Given that the 2026 World Cup will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, the CONCACAF region (North America) will no longer be able to field a candidate to host the 2034 World Cup. FIFA is actually “flirting” with UEFA (Europe) and CAF (Africa) by awarding the 2030 World Cup to Spain and Portugal, as well as Morocco. And everything would be fine, but with the decision to allow Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay to play one of their matches in the 2030 World Cup at home, Infantino and his colleagues in the FIFA leadership essentially removed the entire CONCACAF region (South America). ) from the list of 2034 World Cup competitors).

At least on the official FIFA website, in the section devoted to the selection of the country that will host the 2034 World Cup, there is a statement that only countries representing two confederations (AFC (Asia) and OFC (Oceania)) can apply to host the 2034 World Cup. tournament. The latter no longer includes Australia, which fell under the jurisdiction of the AFC until 2006; but it includes countries some have never heard of: American Samoa, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Cook Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua. New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga, Tuvalu, Fiji.

Simply put: although there is a slim chance of cooperation between Australia and New Zealand, potential bidders from the AFC will not have rivals from the OFC, which may give this confederation at least some hope of success.

But from the AFC itself, it looks like no one will be able to compete with Saudi Arabia, the main contender for the 2034 World Cup (China seems to have already forgotten the idea due to the permanent crisis and turbulence to take the final part of the World Cup). Now anonymous sources in British tabloids report that the decision to award the rights to host the World Cup to the Saudis in eleven years is “almost a done deal” and that it will “earn FIFA billions of dollars.”

Potentially, Saudi Arabia’s rivals could be members of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), which has been discussed since 2011. In particular, in 2019 and 2022, senior leaders of Thailand and Cambodia advocated for all ten ASEAN member countries (Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines) to form a united front and surrender. Joint bid for the 2034 World Cup However, so far things have not gone beyond slogans and calls, and at the request of FIFA, the deadline for “expressions of interest” in hosting the 2034 World Cup has been set as 31 October 2023. From now on, until the 4th quarter of 2024, various bureaucratic procedures will be carried out to determine the final candidates for the organization of the 2034 World Cup.

While ASEAN is considering and Australia and New Zealand are seeking consensus on the possibility of submitting a joint application, on October 4, Saudi Arabian officials officially announced their desire to host the 2034 World Cup on its territory.

“Holding the World Cup in Saudi Arabia will mean a lot to us. We are a football nation. Prince Yasser Al Mashal, President of the Saudi Football Federation, said, “This is what the dreams of all generations of Saudi citizens consist of.”

Moreover, in the following days, the Saudis announced that their desire to host the World Cup after 11 years was officially supported by the football authorities of Syria, Bangladesh, Libya, Tunisia and Botswana. There is no doubt that the list of states that will support Saudi Arabia, the potential host of the 2034 World Cup, will increase in the coming days, weeks and even months…

Frankly, the British insiders are extremely close to the truth, because a conditional offer from the ASEAN countries, if it comes to light, will be extremely difficult to become a strong rival to Saudi Arabia, both politically and purely organizationally. Synchronizing the resources (economic, political, social, etc.) of ten countries is a serious challenge that has not yet been encountered in the history of organizing world football championships, and therefore the self-sufficient and individual practice of the Saudis seems more advantageous in such situations. A component that FIFA calls “sustainability” (which refers to a combination of factors ranging from the movement of fans between stadiums to attend matches to the need to minimize the World Cup’s impact on the environment).

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If we imagine that FIFA is really interested in ensuring that Saudi Arabia does not lead to serious competition for the right to host the 2034 World Cup, this would require removing at least two more, given CONCACAF’s slim chances. the confederations “withdrew from the game”, but Infantino and company even managed to circumvent this plan: by first approving the participation of Morocco in the joint bid of Spain and Portugal for the 2030 World Cup (initially considered the favorite), which made it possible to win the 2030 World Cup. “Weeding out” UEFA and CAF and then implementing a “unique solution” with Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay denying CONMEBOL a chance at the 2034 World Cup.

Moreover, as stated in the official communiqué, the decision regarding the 2030 World Cup formula was taken unanimously and was carried out through the FIFA Council, the main decision-making body of the organization. The council consists of: FIFA President Gianni Infantino and eight vice-presidents: Sheikh Salman (AFC), Alejandro Dominguez (CONMEBOL), Victor Montagliani (CONCACAF), Alexander Ceferin (UEFA), Lambert Maltock (OFC), Patrice Motsepe (CAF), Sandor Csanyi (UEFA) and Debbie Hewitt (UEFA). FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura and 28 members elected through confederations also have voting rights.

So officially, FIFA President Gianni Infantino did not directly make any decisions that could cause him to personally suspect that he was lobbying for someone else’s interests. All decisions were made through a professional body, but in general, from the point of view of a completely average person, one cannot help but appreciate what a talented dribbler the current president of the International Football Federation is. And although this is a textbook case, it seems that “the wolves are fed and the sheep are safe”, for some reason there is a feeling that Infantino will be remembered for no less long in terms of the 2034 World Cup, and Joseph Blatter’s predecessor will have a look at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups With a very technical approach in terms of bureaucratic manipulations in which the host countries are selected.