Australia withdraws bid for 2034 FIFA World Cup; Saudi Arabia set to win hosting rights

Sydney, Oct 31 (IANS) Sydney, Oct 31 (IANS) Football Australia on Tuesday opted out of the 2034 FIFA Men's Football World Cup bid, paving the way for Saudi Arabia to potentially host the tournament.

After successfully hosting the record-breaking FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023, which saw almost two million attendees, Australia's chances of hosting the 2034 Men's World Cup seemed bleak when the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) endorsed the Saudi bid.

"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 said in a statement.

FIFA has invited bids from the Asia and Oceania regions for confederation rotation and of securing the best possible hosting conditions for the World Cup earlier this month.

Australia, however, will aim to secure the hosting rights for the 2029 Club World Cup and the 2026 Women's Asian Cup, with Saudi Arabia also bidding for the latter tournament.

"We believe we are in a strong position to host the oldest women’s international competition in the world, the AFC Women’s Asian Cup™ 2026, and then welcome the greatest teams in world football for the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup," the statement further read.

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