What you need to know about the 2034 Fifa World Cup bid

The 2034 Fifa World Cup is expected to be staged in Saudi Arabia with Fifa to vote for the hosts in an extraordinary virtual congress on Wednesday.

With the Middle East nation the only bid submitted, it seems a formality for what will be a historic and ambitious World Cup, the likes of which we will have never seen before.

It is possible the bid will be voted down, but Saudi Arabia already has confirmed support from over 150 countries and this seems highly unlikely.

Here is all you need to know about the Saudi Arabia bid.

WHEN IS IT?

This is the big question. So far the dates have not been set but given the extreme heat in the summer months, it is highly likely it will be a winter World Cup again, just as we saw in Qatar 2022.

That will mean disruption to the European seasons again, which will require some negotiation, while there is also the potential conflict with the 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City (February 2024), the holy month of Ramadan and the 2034 Asian Games in Riyadh (November-December).

HISTORY MADE

The tournament will be the first time that a 48-team World Cup has been played in a single nation, which is a testament to the facilities in Saudi Arabia to be able to host that many teams and fans in stadia, training facilities and hotels.

The tournament is set to be spread across five cities and 15 stadiums, eight of which will be in Riyadh alone.

That also has shades of Qatar 2022, when fans were able to attend more than one match per day given the close proximity of the venues.

SECOND TIME FOR THE MIDDLE EAST

The Qatar 2022 World Cup was one of the best ever for the football on the pitch, which was hugely entertaining and ended in the greatest final the competition has seen between Argentina and France.

But its timing, and the lack of options for fans to entertain themselves away from the stadia were less impressive.

Saudi Arabia may face the same challenges, but has a far greater number of natural, historic and man-made sights for supporters to keep themselves entertained outside of the football.

This is borne out in the tourism numbers. Qatar received around 4 million international visitors in 2023, while Saudi Arabia was closer to 27.4 million.

This is a 56 per cent increase since the country became more open in 2019.

VENUES

Eleven of the proposed 15 stadia for 2034 will be newly built, including a new 92 000 King Salman International Stadium in Riyadh.

The second biggest proposed venue, the King Fahd Sports City Stadium, also in Riyadh, will have capacity for 70 000 fans when renovations are completed.

Jeddah is to have three new stadiums (and four in total), while there will also be new venues built in Abha, Khobar and Neom.

The venue in Neom is set to be a unique stadium built 350 feet in the air, while many other stadia will be world-class facilities that provide a legacy for the country long after the tournament is played.

NUMBER OF TEAMS

This will be the third World Cup to feature 48 teams, but the first in a single country.

Africa is again expected to have nine automatic qualifiers and one team that could book their place via the play-offs.