The News
Soccer’s global governing body FIFA confirmed Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup Wednesday in a widely expected move, as the Gulf nation was the sole bidder for the tournament. FIFA also confirmed that Spain, Portugal, and Morocco will host the 2030 World Cup, with some initial games being played in Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina — although it remains unclear which country will host the final, The New York Times reported.
Saudi will now embark on a mammoth construction project across six cities to prepare for the tournament.
The confirmation of Saudi as the 2034 host was met with criticism from human-rights activists and some national soccer groups, who had urged FIFA to ”insist on minimum human rights compliance.” Norway’s soccer federation said prior to the FIFA members’ vote to confirm the 2030 and 2034 bids that it would abstain from giving its approval, arguing that the vote was essentially meaningless.