Australia FA says still exploring bid for 2034 World Cup

05.10.2023 - 06:17 channelnewsasia.com

Football Australia chief executive James Johnson said on Thursday they are still exploring a bid to host the 2034 World Cup, despite the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) having declared support for Saudi Arabia.After naming Morocco, Spain and Portugal as 2030 World Cup hosts on Wednesday, with Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay hosting the opening matches to mark the tournament's centenary, FIFA then invited countries from the Asia and Oceania regions to submit bids for 2034.The Saudi Arabian Football Federation announced its bid minutes later, with AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa then welcoming the announcement, saying "the entire Asian football family will stand united in support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's momentous initiative".Australia, which switched to the Asian confederation from Oceania in 2006, has already announced its intention to bid for the 2034 tournament and Johnson said nothing had changed."As stated previously, Football Australia is exploring the possibility of bidding for the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup and/or the FIFA World Cup 2034," he said in a statement."We are encouraged that after the hugely successful FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and FIFA Women's World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023, the football family of Asia and Oceania will once again have the opportunity to showcase their ability to welcome the world and host the best FIFA tournaments."The deadline for prospective hosts to submit their confirmations of interest is Oct.

31.Australia have never hosted a men's World Cup and were eliminated in the first round of voting for the 2022 event.The 2026 World Cup, which will feature 48 teams, will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Football FIFA country President cup James Johnson Qatar Spain Portugal Usa Argentina Australia Mexico Canada New Zealand Morocco Saudi Arabia Uruguay Paraguay

Australia will face the Netherlands in Match 24 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on October 25 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, India. The match commences at 02:00 PM IST. The Australian cricket team heads into the match following their 62-run win over Pakistan. The win saw their top batsman David Warner return to form. The left-handed batsman scored a splendid century to guide Australia to a massive score of 367/9. After a poor start to their World Cup campaign, Australia registered dominating wins over Sri Lanka and Pakistan and currently occupy the fourth spot in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 league standings with four points from four matches.

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LONDON : Australia want to host more major soccer tournaments including the 2034 men's World Cup to build on the legacy of their successful staging of this year's global women's finals, Football Australia CEO James Johnson said on Thursday.

Saudi 2034 World Cup bid boosted by full AFC support, FIFA’s Asian tournament pledge

GENEVA: Saudi Arabia’s FIFA-favored bid to host the men’s World Cup in 2034 passed on Wednesday one of the few barriers left in what seems an inevitable win. One week after revealing talks with Australia about bidding to co-host the 2034 World Cup, Indonesian soccer leader Erick Thohir said his federation is now with Saudi Arabia. Thohir’s change of plan was detailed in a statement on the Indonesian soccer federation website hours before an online meeting of the Asian Football Confederation, whose 47 members include Australia, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. During the meeting, FIFA President Gianni Infantino urged AFC members to “be united for the 2034 World Cup.” Infantino has long been a close ally of Saudi soccer and the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and FIFA’s surprise decision two weeks ago to fast-track bidding for the 2034 men’s tournament was seen as favorable for them. AFC members responded quickly to Infantino’s urging and the Japan federation proposed united support behind the Saudi bid backed by Uzbekistan, Lebanon and India. “Japan has a plan to host the FIFA World Cup by 2050 but now it’s time for Asia to get united and make a single bid (for 2034),” Japanese federation official Tsuneyasu Miyamoto said, praising Saudi Arabia for a “long football history, massive passion and a wonderful vision for 2034.” Australian officials did not take part in the online discussion. After an initial technical problem connecting to the meeting, Saudi federation president Yasser al Misehal said: “It’s always known that Asia is always united.” “We have been overwhelmed by a huge number of supporting letters, announcements from all over the world.

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One week after revealing talks with Australia about bidding to co-host the 2034 World Cup, Indonesian soccer leader Erick Thohir said on Wednesday that his federation now supports Saudi Arabia. Thohir's change of plan was detailed in a statement on the Indonesian soccer federation website hours before an online meeting of the Asian Football Confederation, whose 47 members include Australia, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. During the meeting, FIFA President Gianni Infantino urged AFC members to "be united for the 2034 World Cup."

Indonesia backs Saudi Arabia's bid for 2034 World Cup

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