During the Paris Olympics, FIFA has been engaging with future hosts of the men’s World Cup, including Saudi Arabia.
On Monday, FIFA announced that it received formal bid books in Paris from leaders of the seven member federations that are the sole bidders for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups.
For the 2030 World Cup, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco will co-host, along with Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay from South America, each of which will host one of the tournament’s 104 games.
Saudi Arabia is the sole candidate for the 2034 World Cup, a decision that was fast-tracked by FIFA last year.
The two bids are expected to be confirmed during an online meeting of FIFA’s 211 member federations on December 11.
Before that, detailed World Cup project plans, spanning hundreds of pages, will be published later this week by FIFA. These plans must include proposals for stadiums, hotels, training fields, transportation, and national security.
“FIFA will thoroughly assess the bid books and publish its evaluation report” due in the last quarter of the year, the world football body said in a statement.
World Cup bidders are now required to undergo an assessment of their human rights obligations as part of their bid to host the tournament.
FIFA, invited in May to collaborate with independent experts, will oversee this evaluation of the candidates.
FIFA’s human rights policy, implemented eight years ago following the controversial awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively, was first applied to candidates for the 2026 tournament.
The 2026 World Cup will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, marking the first time the tournament will feature 48 teams instead of 32.
This bid triumphed over Morocco in a 134-65 vote held in 2018 in Moscow.