Saudi Arabia officially launches campaign to host 2034 FIFA World Cup

Saudi Arabia has launched its formal campaign to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) announced on Friday, revealing the bid slogan "Growing. Together" as well as a campaign logo of two multi-colored ribbons that form the number 34.

"As one of the fastest and most exciting growth stories in world football, Growing.Together. seeks to capture the parallel between Saudi Arabia's rapid transformation and the positive impact hosting the tournament would have on both international football and FIFA's flagship event. Aspiring to become the first single host nation of a 48-team FIFA World Cup™, the three pillars underpinning the bid are: Growing People. Together. – Growing Football. Together. – Growing Connections. Together," the SAFF said in a statement.

FIFA will vote at the end of 2024 to decide if Saudi Arabia will become the host for the 2034 World Cup, but since there's no other competitor in the race, the tournament is likely to return to the Middle East after its debut there in Qatar in 2022. At that edition, the games happened in November and December, partly because of the local weather. As a result, top European football leagues and competitions took a pause.

"Telling our football story to the world is of massive importance. And we believe Growing. Together. is the perfect, yet simple description of our approach to hopefully hosting the tournament in 10 years' time," Yasser Al Misehal, president of the SAFF, said in the statement. "Bidding to host a FIFA World Cup™ is only made possible by the rapid transformation the country is enjoying. We've made unprecedented progress in both the men's and women's game and our bid is an open invitation to the world to join us on this exciting journey. As we proved when we welcomed over 100 nationalities to the FIFA Club World Cup Saudi Arabia 2023™ in Jeddah, the future is bright when we grow together."

The 2034 World Cup will be the 25th edition of the tournament. Before that, the 23rd edition will take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026, featuring 48 teams for the first time. In another four years, the tournament's centennial year, the 24th edition will be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with some of the games in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, which hosted the inaugural World Cup in 1930.