The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) issued its Bid Evaluation Report of Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2034 with the bid receiving 419.8 out of 500, the highest ever score in FIFA World Cup history.
The announcement comes less than two weeks until the official awarding of the FIFA World Cup hosts for 2030 and 2034 at the extraordinary FIFA congress on December 11, 2024. As part of the bidding process, FIFA conducted an inspection visit in October to review the details of Saudi Arabia’s bid, where they visited proposed host cities, stadiums, and facilities across the tournament footprint. In the 110-page bid evaluation document, FIFA’s inspection team said Saudi Arabia must invest “significant effort and time” to fulfill its ambitious promises for the tournament and to comply with the federation’s standards.
Saudi Arabia’s 2034 World Cup bid received a higher technical score than the 2026 joint bid by the United States, Canada and Mexico which scored 4.0 despite having proposed 23 stadiums – all of which are already built.
According to The Guardian, “stadiums alone account for 35% of the overall score awarded to bids and FIFA claimed the level of risk in the 2026 bid was low. However, the Saudi bid had a medium level of risk. “Due to the overall scale of the stadium projects, as well as the novel designs and configurations proposed in some cases, there is an elevated risk profile,” FIFA said. It added that the risk was mitigated as Saudi Arabia has a strong team in place and ample time to deliver on the projects.”
Adam Crafton in The New York Times noted that the report declared the risk assessment for human rights to be “medium” adding that there is “good potential” for the competition to act as a “catalyst” for reforms within Saudi Arabia, saying it will “contribute to positive human rights outcomes”. Amnesty International described FIFA’s observations as “an astonishing whitewash” of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.
“Over the past two and a half years, Saudi Arabia has sealed more than 35 memorandums of understanding with different countries’ federations, most recently with the Football Association of Ukraine in October. In total it has 48 with individual nations and further agreements with the Oceania Football Confederation and the Confederation of African Football. All bar the Ukraine deal and additional accords with France and Croatia involve countries from outside Europe.”
“While such arrangements, which generally involve pledges to knowledge share and collaborate on aspects of development, are not uncommon in football, the scope of Saudi Arabia’s influence and diplomatic clout is eye‑catching. Its unopposed bid for the 2034 tournament will be passed on 11 December without a formal vote, meaning the world’s federations will effectively wave it through via a round of applause in an online meeting. The Guardian understands there is disquiet among a number of federation chiefs about the remote, rushed-through nature of the decision.”
FIFA’s bid report said Saudi Arabia submitted commitments to “respecting, protecting and fulfilling internationally recognised human rights”. Those include areas of “safety and security, labour rights of migrant workers, rights of children, gender equality and non-discrimination, as well as freedom of expression (including press freedom)”.
Head of the Saudi Arabia FIFA World Cup 2034 bid unit Hammad Albalawi stated: “We take huge pride in this unprecedented score. It highlights the country’s collaborative efforts to present the highest technical standards throughout this bid. Our goal was to highlight how the significant progress we’ve already made in football can benefit the global game and demonstrate our commitment to deliver an exceptional experience for the world’s largest sporting event.”
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