Saudi Arabia only candidate to host 2034 World Cup, FIFA says

Saudi Arabia is the only football association that presented a bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup before the deadline closed, the soccer’s global governing body said on Tuesday, WAM reports.

FIFA had set Tuesday as the deadline to submit a bid to host the tournament, but Australia’s decision to pull out leaves Saudi Arabia as the only declared candidate.

Australia said on Tuesday it would not be presenting a bid to host the tournament, leaving Saudi Arabia as the only candidate.

“We have explored the opportunity to bid to host the FIFA World Cup and – having taken all factors into consideration – we have reached the conclusion not to do so for the 2034 competition,” Football Australia (FA) said in a statement.

FIFA has yet to officially approve Saudi Arabia as the host of the 2034 World Cup, and this is expected to happen next year.