Australia withdraws 2034 bid, leaving Saudi Arabia as only option

Australia has officially announced it is withdrawing its 2034 bid for the World Cup, leaving Saudi Arabia as the only viable option.

Saudi Arabia looks set to host the 2034 World Cup after Australia decided not to bid for the tournament 🏆

The deadline for any further bids is today. pic.twitter.com/AzOJfRSpOJ

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 31, 2023

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The FA announced the decision just hours before FIFA’s deadline for declarations on Tuesday. The only other nation to submit a bid is Australia.

There was a possibility that Indonesia will join forces with Australia, but that soon fell down as they (Indonesia) backed up Saudi’s bid.

“We have explored the opportunity to bid to host the FIFA World Cup and — having taken all factors into consideration — we have reached the conclusion not to do so for the 2034 competition,” Football Australia said in a statement.

The country will instead focus on earning rights to host 2029 World Cup and the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup.