Australia withdrew at the last minute, leaving only this candidate to host the 2034 World Cup finals.

On October 31, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) said that Saudi Arabia was the only football federation to submit a proposal to host the 2034 World Cup finals before the registration deadline ended.

Saudi Arabia là quốc gia duy nhất xin đăng cai vòng chung kết World Cup 2034

The 2034 World Cup will be held in Asia and Oceania. (Source: beIN Sports)

FIFA has invited confederations in Asia and Oceania to bid for the 2034 World Cup, with the deadline for applications being October 31, the organisation announced.

However, according to the latest decision, the Football Federation of Australia (FA) said that it will not participate in the bid to host the 2034 World Cup, leading to Saudi Arabia being the only candidate.

FIFA's announcement stated that, with the hosting regulations approved by the FIFA Council, the management board will conduct thorough evaluation processes for countries proposing to host the 2030 and 2034 World Cups.

It is expected that the official host country of these finals will be announced at the FIFA Congress next year.

On the same day, President of the Saudi Arabia Football Federation Yasser Al Misehal said that Riyadh is committed to fully implementing FIFA's requirements for hosting the World Cup.

On social platform X, Mr. Yasser Al Misehal wrote: "All members of the Saudi Arabian football family are trying their best to achieve the dream of the people of seeing the World Cup for the first time.

We believe in the immense power of football to inspire future generations and we hope the 2034 World Cup will contribute to the development of the sport around the world."

On the evening of October 31, the FA announced that it would withdraw from the race to host the 2034 World Cup. According to FA Chairman James Johnson, Australia will focus on winning the right to host the 2026 Women's Asian Cup and the 2029 Club World Cup.

"We considered the opportunity to bid for the 2034 World Cup. However, after considering the factors, we decided to withdraw," the statement said.

Instead, Australia is in a stronger position to host the oldest international women's tournament, the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup. We will then welcome the world's best clubs at the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup."

Following the principle of continents taking turns hosting the World Cup, FIFA is lobbying Asia and Oceania to host the 2034 World Cup.

Three Southeast Asian countries, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, once wanted to join forces with Australia to host the 2023 World Cup. However, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore decided to withdraw 3 weeks ago.

Saudi Arabia invested heavily in football this year when the national championship recruited a series of big stars such as Ronaldo, Benzema, Kante. Besides FIFA, many countries in Asia such as Japan, India and Uzbekistan also supported Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 World Cup.

The 2034 World Cup will be the third time Asia has hosted the tournament. Japan and South Korea previously co-hosted the 2002 World Cup, while Qatar successfully hosted the impressive 2022 World Cup.

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