FOOTBALL Australia chief executive James Johnson has said the country is still considering bidding to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, a day after Saudi Arabia declared their intention.
FIFA announced yesterday that the 2030 edition of the global tournament will be hosted across Europe, Africa and South America to celebrate its 100 years, with Spain, Portugal and Morocco being the major hosts while Uruguay, where the first edition was held in 1930, Argentina and Paraguay will be secondary hosts.
The football ruling body also invited bids from countries in Asia and Oceania for the 2034 edition, and Saudi Arabia said they would be putting in a bid.
Johnson said today that Australia would be exploring a bid to organise the 2034 tournament, despite the Asian Football Confederation having declared support for Saudi Arabia.
Australia, which switched to the Asian confederation from Oceania in 2006, has already announced its intention to bid for the 2034 tournament and Johnson said nothing had changed.
“As stated previously, Football Australia is exploring the possibility of bidding for the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup and/or the FIFA World Cup 2034,” he said in a statement.
“We are encouraged that after the hugely successful FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023, the football family of Asia and Oceania will once again have the opportunity to showcase their ability to welcome the world and host the best FIFA tournaments.”
The deadline for prospective hosts to submit their bids is October 31.
Australia and Saudi Arabia have never hosted a men’s World Cup and the former got eliminated in the first round of voting for the 2022 event, although successfully co-hosted the 2023 Women’s World Cup with neighbours New Zealand.
Indeed, while Asia has only hosted once, in 2002 with Korea and Japan, no country in Oceania has ever organised the biggest single-sport tournament in the world.
The 2026 World Cup, which will feature 48 teams, will be hosted by the United States of America, Canada and Mexico.
