Saudi Arabia’s World Cup: what will the 2034 tournament look like?

The venues

Fifa’s bid evaluation report left no doubt: Saudi Arabia had put together the most convincing, highest-scoring package of all time. Staggeringly the fact 11 of the 15 stadiums are yet to be built provided little obstacle; nor did the fact Fifa itself pointed to “associated unknowns or challenges”. Many of the new venues have been designed by the US firm Populous, which also has a headquarters in London. Its work includes Spurs’ home and Lusail Stadium, which hosted the 2022 World Cup final. The visuals are dramatic and the ambition sweeping: King Salman Stadium in Riyadh will hold 92,000, staging the opening game and final. Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium, another Riyadh venue, has perhaps been the most widely trailed with its futuristic design and open side that looks out over cliffs. Numerous promises have been made regarding the arenas’ post-tournament legacies and sustainability prospects; hopefully those plans will be effected more quickly than those made for Qatar, where Stadium 974, yet to be dismantled and reconstructed elsewhere as mooted, is one example of a ground running beyond borrowed time.

The cities

The Saudi bid’s record score is even more perplexing given one of the four host cities, Neom, is yet to be built and is believed to have been scaled back in scope. Fifa has admitted close monitoring of such projects will be required. Riyadh and Jeddah are at least familiar with international visitors, albeit largely for business or religious reasons. The latter hosted last year’s Club World Cup with reasonable success, although traffic problems tended to dog those looking to get away from King Abdullah Sports City. An unseasonal rainstorm caused chaos in the hours after Manchester City’s victory in the final. Enhanced transport links are a must; a new high-speed rail line is among ventures promised for Jeddah while Riyadh’s new metro system was opened late in November. Train travel between cities should be relatively straightforward but accommodation may prove a sticking point. Saudi Arabia is hardly a budget traveller’s dream and any fans on a shoestring hoping for the formative experience of a World Cup visit must hope enough of Fifa’s 230,000 promised rooms are light on the pockets.

Another of the challenges for Saudi cities will be to create the kind of public spaces that were, albeit in limited quantity, available in parts of Doha. Coralling visitors into fan fests, which look unlikely to be selling alcohol, will not cut it. A huge swathe of Jeddah is under reconstruction, amid reports of mass demolitions and forced evictions that have alarmed human rights groups. The Jeddah Central project includes a stadium and various mooted tourist attractions and represents the kind of vision Saudi Arabia hopes will greet arrivals in 2034.

The matches

It is anyone’s guess what international football will look like in 2034. Saudi Arabia is, to an extravagant extent, betting on interest in the World Cup remaining as high as ever. But the club game will continue to exert its squeeze during the next decade, and nobody knows whether the new 48-team format will thrill fans over the coming two tournaments or bore them. If the 2026 and 2030 editions, in much more visitable locations, do not bring supporters to the many lower-profile games then how will Saudi Arabia? The Saudis can at least point to a genuine, deep-rooted football culture and the host nation’s games should be vibrant events. So there should be no need to echo Qatar in transporting trained ultras from nearby countries, but plenty is sure to be invested in the surrounding spectacle. Football will only be part of the show. On the pitch, a 27-year-old Lamine Yamal should be at the peak of his powers when things kick off; anyone sticking their neck out may make Spain the early favourites.

The weather

The tournament will almost certainly be held in winter, much to the discontent of those grappling with football’s ever-more complex calendar. Clubs had been promised that Qatar 2022, switched from its original summer spot, would be a one-off but anything goes where pushing Saudi Arabia’s bid through has been concerned. Temperatures should be conducive enough to football; Abhar, a coastal city in the south-west, may be the closest thing to genuinely chilly conditions.

The human cost

Now that there is no turning back, and Saudi Arabia’s expedited bid has been dutifully clapped through, will the country’s abysmal human rights record be opened to serious scrutiny? Visiting fans are, as in Qatar, unlikely to be shown anything beyond the gleaming spectacle largely constructed by a vast and grievously exploited migrant workforce. The chances are that workers are encouraged to take leave or hidden far from city centres. There will be human stories behind each stadium or new entertainment venue constructed in service of the World Cup. How these are told, and the extent to which Saudi Arabia undergoes genuine reform in the meantime, will colour the context of every step travelling supporters take.