- Saudi Arabia was announced as the host nation of the 2034 World Cup last December
- Prince Abdulaziz responded to the proposals for an extended competition
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Saudi Arabia revealed its position on the organization of a World Cup of 64 teams, in the midst of proposals to increase the number of teams in the competition in 2034.
In December, the state of the Gulf was announced as the host nation of the 2034 World Cup during an online FIFA congress after no alternative candidate was manifested.
The offer was open to any country in the Asian and Oceania regions who thought it could afford to organize a competition involving 104 games, with Saudi Arabia the only real competitor.
The North American World Cup in 2026 will be the first to present 48 teams, extending from the format to 32 teams used from 1998 to 2022.
In the midst of calls to further increase the number of competition teams, the Minister of Sports of Saudi Arabia – Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Bin Fais – insisted that the kingdom would be “more than happy” to deliver such a demand.
“I mean we are ready, and where we will be ready, Inshallah,” Prince Abdulaziz told Formula 1 race on Sunday in Djeddah.
The Minister of Sports of Saudi Arabia said that they were “more than happy” to welcome a World Cup of 64 teams
The state of the Gulf was announced as the host nation of the 2034 World Cup in an unrivaled offer
The North American World Cup in 2026 will be the first to present 48 teams, going from 32
“If it is a decision that FIFA makes and thinks that it is a good decision for everyone, then we are more than happy to deliver it.”
The talks of an expansion of 64 teams began in South America with Alejandro Dominguez – President of Conmebol.
He argued that the 2030 World Cup, which has celebrated the 100th anniversary since the first tournament took place in Uruguay, should be a special edition tournament.
The Spanish-Portugal-Morocco offer for the 2030 edition was confirmed by the trifecta of the nations which also won their competition in December without a single rival.
The offer initially faced a South American rival offer, but an arrangement was taken for South America to stage the first three games of the 2030 centennial final rather with Spain, Portugal and Morocco hosting the rest.
This actually presented the following finals in Saudi Arabia with FIFA rules dictating that the countries of Europe, Africa and South America could not apply and that an interested nation had only one month to submit their offer.
A World Cup of 64 teams would probably have 16 groups with four teams each, and the two best teams of each group passing to a phase of Knockout at 32 teams.
Such a competition would see 129 games played (including the playoff match) – double the number of the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
Discussions on a World Cup of 64 teams began in South America for the 100th anniversary of the competition in 2030
With the Saudi offer in 2034, FIFA is found in the same place where it made before the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022, with temperatures between May and September in their last choice at the top of 40C.
This makes it likely that the competition should be moved to a slit outside the traditional summer window.
Between October and April, average temperatures fall between 20 ° C and 30C.
A January cup of the World Cup seems to be the most convincing option in order to avoid Christmas, New Year and Ramadan, the latter should take place between November 11 and December 10 at 2034.
