On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia is expected to be awarded the men's football World Championship 2034. The country is the only candidate when the 211 member associations of Fifa (International Football Federation) gather for a digital congress.
Of these, 44 associations have a particularly strong bond with the authoritarian state. They have a cooperation agreement with the Saudi football association, according to a survey by the organization Play the Game.
Camp in Saudi Arabia
One of them is the Caribbean American Virgin Islands – an American territory with just 87,000 inhabitants and blacklisted by the EU as a tax haven.
The national team is one of the worst in the world, ranking 208th. The team has only its neighbor Anguilla and the European microstate San Marino behind it in the world rankings.
Our national team consists of a few players who play college football in the USA and players from our domestic amateur league. There are some talents, but unfortunately, the infrastructure for football has not been so good here, says Firas Idheileh, the association's general secretary, to TT.
There are only 15 clubs and 12 football pitches on the American Virgin Islands. Fifa financed the construction of the national stadium entirely, with President Gianni Infantino present at the inauguration in 2019.
We are trying to take advantage of the support we have from Fifa and make the most of it, to build our football product.
As part of the cooperation with Saudi Arabia, the national team was recently on a training camp in the country.
The idea behind the cooperation with the Saudis is that our players should take part in a professional football environment. They have world-class facilities in Saudi Arabia and they took care of us in a fantastic way, from the moment we landed, says Firas Idheileh.
"Making our voice heard"
It is mainly African and Asian football associations that have similar agreements with the Saudis. Examples include Guam (ranked 203rd in the world), Somalia (202nd), and Seychelles (201st).
Associations that have the same voting power as the largest football nations at the Fifa congress.
Even though we are small, we have the same voting rights and power as Germany or Brazil. We are grateful to be at that level and make our voice heard, says Firas Idheileh.
Saudi Arabia's football association has cooperation agreements (memorandum of understanding, MOU) with 44 other national associations, which have voting rights within Fifa.
The country also has a cooperation agreement with the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and the African Football Confederation (CAF).
Cooperations can, for example, involve national teams being able to go on training camps in Saudi Arabia and international matches being arranged in the country, according to what has been officially communicated in connection with the announcement of the cooperation agreements.
It can also involve issues such as referee matters, women's football, talent development, organization of youth tournaments, and technical assistance.
Source: Play the Game
Below is a list of national associations that have cooperation agreements with Saudi Arabia's association. If not otherwise stated, the association's men's national team has never played a men's World Championship.
+ Asian Football Confederation (AFC) – agreement with 19 national associations out of a total of 46 Fifa members: Iran (ranked 18th in the world – 6 World Championships, most recently 2022), Iraq (56 – 1 World Championship, 1986), Oman (80), China (90 – 1 World Championship, 2002), Syria (95), Kyrgyzstan (107), Tajikistan (104), Vietnam (116), India (127), Kuwait (134 – 1 World Championship, 1982), Yemen (158), Myanmar (167), Singapore (161), Maldives (162), Nepal (175), Brunei (184), Bangladesh (185), Pakistan (198), Guam (204).
+ African Football Confederation (CAF) – agreement with 18 out of a total of 54 Fifa members: Ivory Coast (46 – 3 World Championships, most recently 2014), Mali (51), Ghana (77 – 4 World Championships, most recently 2022), Mozambique (96), Comoros (103), Madagascar (115), Sudan (113), Mauritania (109), Gambia (126), Congo-Brazzaville (128), Malawi (131), Burundi (139), Botswana (136), Liberia (145), Ethiopia (146), South Sudan (170), Seychelles (201), Somalia (202).
+ North and Central American and Caribbean Football Confederation (Concacaf) – agreement with 3 out of a total of 35 Fifa members: Costa Rica (54 – 6 World Championships, most recently 2022), Guyana (154), American Virgin Islands (208).
+ South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) – agreement with 1 out of a total of 10 Fifa members: Ecuador (24 – 4 World Championships, most recently 2022).
+ European Football Confederation (Uefa) – agreement with 3 out of 55 Fifa members: France (2 – 16 World Championships, most recently 2022), Croatia (13 – 6 World Championships, most recently 2022), Ukraine (25 – 1 World Championship, 2006).
Note: The world ranking goes from 1 to 210. Eritrea has no ranking since the national team has not played any matches in the last 48 months. Saudi Arabia has no cooperation agreement with any of the 11 member associations of the Oceania Football Confederation.
Source: Play the Game, Fifa.com
The hosting of the men's football World Championship 2030 and 2034 will be decided at an extraordinary Fifa congress on December 11. The congress will be held digitally.
Saudi Arabia is the only candidate for 2034. Co-hosting Spain, Portugal, and Morocco are the only candidates for the 2030 World Championship. Then, the first three matches will be played in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay in South America. This is to commemorate that it was 100 years since the first World Championship was held in Uruguay (1930).
The championships will be decided jointly and according to the Norwegian Football Association via acclamation, i.e., without a formal vote.
It is unclear whether acclamation will take place through silent approval, yes-or-no shouts, applause, or in some other way.
