Could Saudi Arabia host the 2030 World Cup?
The country plans on making a joint bid with Greece and Egypt…
Football fans in the Kingdom take note: Saudi Arabia is reportedly planing to bid for the FIFA World Cup 2030. At the moment, Saudi Arabia’s bid for the World Cup 2030 is in talks, but could see the kingdom make a joint bid for the eye-watering sum of $40billion for the FIFA World Cup 2030.
According to Arabian Business, the joint bid would mean Egypt and Greece will be co-hosts alongside Saudi Arabia, which would be the main partner. This means that the majority of matches and the nail-biting final games would be played in Saudi.
If the bid were to be accepted, the World Cup would be held during the winter season due to the climate, which would make it the second tournament to be held outside of the summer months. The Qatar World Cup 2022, starting in November this year, is the first ever World Cup not to be held in May, June, or July.
In line with Vision 2030, the Kingdom aims to become a regional hub for world-class sporting events. This year alone, Saudi Arabia has hosted some of the biggest sporting events including the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix in March 2022 and more recently, Rage on the Red Sea which saw Oleksandr Usyk defeat Anthony Joshua. The country has also expressed interest in hosting the Olympics.
The competition to host the FIFA World Cup 2030 is already fierce and Saudi Arabia will be up against joint bidders Spain and Portugal (aka the Iberian bid), and another joint bid between Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile. Earlier this year, the UK abandoned its 2030 bid to focus of their plans to host Euro 2028. The next FIFA World Cup will take place in 2026 and will be co-hosted for the first time by Canada, United States, and Mexico.
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