Out of curiosity I looked up the 2030 and 2034 World Cup bid statuses. The countries for those years have been determined already but no official host city has been announced. (I know most soccer fans around the world will know this already, but for people like me who only casually follow the sport every 4 years during the competition, this might be interesting information).
In 2030, games will be played in 6 different countries across 3 continents. The official host countries will be Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. Since it is also the centennial year of the competition, 3 games will also be played in 3 South American countries as well, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina (the first World Cup in 1930 was hosted in Montevideo, Uruguay).
In 2034 the host country will be Saudi Arabia. All venues under consideration are in Saudi Arabia.
Wouldn’t be surprised if the final was held in Barcelona - the stadium is fantastic, and it would be an olive branch to the Catalans from the Spanish government. Unlikely to be Lisbon or Casablanca
To add to this. The reason that six countries across three continents were chosen for 2030, is that due to a FIFA rule one confederation (in effect, continent) cannot host the tournament again for another two tournaments after hosting.
This means, the USA, Canada, Mexico competition in 2026 invalidates North/Central America until 2038. Africa, South America and Europe are checked off by 2030 so cannot again host until 2042. This mean the only confederations eligible for 2034 are the Asia and Oceania. Effectively meaning a straight shot for Saudi Arabia (Australia could have bid, although they are also considered Asian in terms of football).
Its just distusting. I sincerely hope I don't support football anymore by the year 2030, hate to see another tournament in an arabic country without any actual fans.
not to mention for 2038, all confederations except CONCACAF and OFC are ineligible, so unless New Zealand has a crazy boom, we're pretty guaranteed another one in the USA
Saudi Arabia or any Gulf countries being allowed to host the World Cup is just disgusting.
My father worked in Saudi. He must've been one of few white collar Indians in the 90s & 00s, in contrast to vast majority who are slaves in all but name.
He said they'd be crammed up to 60 to a bus with no aircon, have rooms marginally bigger than closets, etc. etc. Suffice it to say, he didn't like Saudi much, even preferring Libya over it
"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity" is a really fitting quote for this
In germany we say "Das Wunder von Bern" like "the miracle of Bern". In group stage hungary beat us 8-3. They were dominating the whole world cup. In the final it rained very heavily and the Germans had new adidas shoes, that helped us to win the game, although everybody thought, that Hungary will win the World Cup.
In 2030, games will be played in 6 different countries across 3 continents. The official host countries will be Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. Since it is also the centennial year of the competition, 3 games will also be played in 3 South American countries as well, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina (the first World Cup in 1930 was hosted in Montevideo, Uruguay).
In 2034 the host country will be Saudi Arabia. All venues under consideration are in Saudi Arabia.
This means, the USA, Canada, Mexico competition in 2026 invalidates North/Central America until 2038. Africa, South America and Europe are checked off by 2030 so cannot again host until 2042. This mean the only confederations eligible for 2034 are the Asia and Oceania. Effectively meaning a straight shot for Saudi Arabia (Australia could have bid, although they are also considered Asian in terms of football).
Absolute masterclass by corrupt FIFA officials.
My father worked in Saudi. He must've been one of few white collar Indians in the 90s & 00s, in contrast to vast majority who are slaves in all but name.
He said they'd be crammed up to 60 to a bus with no aircon, have rooms marginally bigger than closets, etc. etc. Suffice it to say, he didn't like Saudi much, even preferring Libya over it
"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity" is a really fitting quote for this
I recently created a different geography-based world cup quiz below:
https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/1788529/largest-countries-never-to-qualify-for-a-fifa-world-cup