Fifa Men’s World Cup: New Zealand Football keen to explore hosting future tournaments, Saudi Arabia also likely to bid

The door has been left ajar for New Zealand to once again host a Fifa World Cup after the bidding contest was limited to member federations from Asia and Oceania. A unique 2030 Fifa Men’s World Cup looks set to be played in Europe, Africa, and South America, but how would a World Cup look for New Zealand?

The Spain-Portugal 2030 bid grew to add Morocco this year and now also includes long-time bid rivals Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. In times past, one tournament taking place in Europe, Africa and South America would have been seen as impossible, but with the 2024 bidding contest now open - nations will be looking to put their heads together.

Saudi Arabia has long targeted the 2034 edition and on Tuesday formally presented a bid to Fifa.

Australia is also interested after successfully co-hosting the Women’s World Cup this year with New Zealand – leaving the door open for Aotearoa to play a part in hosting the tournament in some fashion, as multi-country bids are now seen as a more cost-effective way to host sporting events of this size.

Football’s governing body has set a tight deadline of October 31 for countries to register their interest, making it difficult for any other nations to receive the Government support they would require.

Australia and New Zealand showed with their hosting of the women’s tournament this year that spreading the load on infrastructure between countries reduces the start-up costs associated with the hosting. Countries are able to use existing stadia - rather than having to construct new ones.

Hannah Wilkinon's goal against Norway has gone down in New Zealand football history. Photo / Michael Craig

In order to host the men’s edition of a Fifa World Cup - host nations must name 14 stadia that have capacity of 40,000 or more. Currently, there are just 11 across New Zealand and Australia which presents a significant infrastructure roadblock. Furthermore, some of the Australian stadia that meet the criteria are football and cricket ovals that aren’t suitable for football.

Questions have been asked as to how a tournament can take place across six countries and three continents - the newly expanded structure of the tournament essentially now dictates this hosting format as there are very few countries that can host an event of this size with existing infrastructure.

The 48-team, 104-game tournament scheduled for June-July 2030 is planned to start with games in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay before the action moves to the core host nations of Spain, Portugal and Morocco. It involves an unprecedented amount of travel across distances and time zones.

New Zealand Football said following the announcement of the 2030 hosting bid, they are exploring options for future hosting.

“Following the success of the biggest and best-ever Fifa Women’s World Cup this year, New Zealand Football are keen to explore hosting other major Fifa tournaments. We are currently reviewing the decisions made overnight and are awaiting more information from Fifa.”

A potential Australia and New Zealand bid could be bolstered by Fifa President Gianni Infantino, who had high praise for the host nations following the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

“I would like to express a big, huge thank you to New Zealand and to Australia for hosting us here. Often we say football unites the world. Australia and New Zealand are uniting the world Downunder, in their part of the world. They welcome all of us, every single person.”

Fifa’s head of women’s football Sarai Bareman has also backed the prospect of another edition being held in New Zealand and Australia.

“Australia and New Zealand have proven very well that they are capable of hosting mega-events,” Bareman told the Herald. “We have seen it here, in the infrastructure, the way that the fans have [shown] out - everything has been incredible, from A to Z, all of it. So I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another World Cup in this region, and other major sporting events as well. Credit to Australia and New Zealand - they put on an incredible show.”

Theorising about how a potential 2034 bid, as current information stands, would materialise leaves a couple of possible scenarios from a New Zealand standpoint: a joint Saudi Arabian, Australian and New Zealand bid or competing Saudi and Australia/New Zealand bids. With the latest news of the Saudi bid - it seems more likely New Zealand and Australia would call upon Saudi Arabia to join them, rather than compete, as the Australasian infrastructure is unlikely to meet the requirements.

Argentina's Lionel Messi raises the trophy after winning the final match of the 2022 Fifa Men's World Cup in Qatar against France. Photo / Getty Images

The former would align with the model of the 2030 bid and would again involve significant travel across time zones (Australia is eight hours ahead of Saudi Arabia and New Zealand 10) - while the latter has the blueprint of a record-breaking successful women’s World Cup hosting by Australia and New Zealand. Saudi Arabia could in turn argue Qatar hosting the men’s World Cup in 2022 has shown it can be done in the Middle East.

While in years past a Saudi, Australian and New Zealand joint bid would likely have been laughed off the table, a six-country, three-continent bid for 2030 now opens the door for even the most fantastical options to be viable.

Should the three-country bid eventualise and be accepted, a likely scenario would be that Australia and New Zealand would host the Socceroos and All Whites pool matches and then the tournament would move to Saudi Arabia for knockouts.

It remains to be seen whether Saudi Arabia would even be open to a multi-nation bid - having seen the exposure Qatar gained from hosting, they may be opposed to the notion of sharing with other nations.

Saudi Arabia has recently invested significantly in football, most notably with the Public Investment Fund purchasing a majority stake in English Premier League club Newcastle United.

Their Saudi Pro League then shook up the global football transfer market, with staggering salaries being offered to some of the world’s best players in a bid to strengthen the competition. Cristiano Ronaldo was the first big name signed, and an avalanche followed - including current Balon d’Or holder Karim Benzema from Real Madrid.

These moves have been judged by many as an attempt at ‘sportswashing’ - hosting events, attracting big names and buying big stakes in beloved sports to increase positive exposure rather than negative and lay a smoother path for big revenue earners like tourism.

Qatar came under heavy scrutiny before and during its hosting of the 2022 men’s World Cup over the country’s human rights record, and should a Saudi bid be accepted in any form, it would undoubtedly attract similar commentary.

New Zealand and Australian football organisers would therefore have to weigh carefully the impact upon their own national brands were they join Saudi Arabia - with the huge incentives in both financial and footballing terms that are gained from hosting the men’s World Cup.

Will Toogood is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He has previously worked for Newstalk ZB’s digital team and at Waiheke’s Gulf News, covering sport and events.