(Reuters) -Saudi Arabia will host the men’s soccer World Cup in 2034 while the 2030 edition will be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with one-off matches in three South American countries, world soccer’s governing body FIFA confirmed on Wednesday.
The decision was announced by FIFA President Gianni Infantino following a virtual extraordinary Congress. The 2030 and 2034 World Cups each had only a single bid and both were confirmed by acclamation.
“We are bringing football to more countries and the number of teams has not diluted the quality. It actually enhanced the opportunity,” Infantino said about the 2030 World Cup.
The combined proposal from Morocco, Spain and Portugal will see the 2030 World Cup take place across three continents and six nations, with Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay hosting celebratory games to mark the tournament’s centenary.
Uruguay held the first World Cup in 1930, while Argentina and Spain have also staged the tournament. Portugal, Paraguay and Morocco will all be first-time hosts.
Four years later, Saudi Arabia will become the second nation from the Middle East to host the quadrennial tournament, 12 years after neighbours Qatar staged the 2022 edition.
In 2023, FIFA said that the 2034 World Cup would be held in the Asia or Oceania region, with the Asian Football Confederation throwing its support behind the Saudi bid.
Australia and Indonesia had also been in talks over a joint bid, but dropped out.
FIFA announced that both bids would be uncontested in 2023, leaving little room for doubt.
On Tuesday, the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) said it would vote against the awarding of hosting rights by acclamation and criticised FIFA’s bidding process, saying it was “flawed and inconsistent”.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru, additonal reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare; Editing by Toby Davis, Alex Richardson and Christian Radnedge)
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