World Cup
FIFA to confirm Saudi Arabia as 2034 World Cup hosts on Wednesday
FIFA is set to confirm the hosts of the 2030 and 2034 men’s World Cups on Wednesday, with a three-continent, six-nation bid led by Morocco, Spain and Portugal to be awarded the former and the latter going to Saudi Arabia.
In October last year, the global soccer governing body said there were no competing bids for the two tournaments, making Wednesday’s decision little more than a formality.
A day before the announcement it was still not clear exactly what format a vote on the decision would adopt, with acceptance by “acclamation” expected rather than a formal vote.
On Tuesday, the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) said it would vote against the awarding of hosting rights by acclamation and criticised FIFA’s bidding process, saying it was “flawed and inconsistent”.
BIDS
Morocco, Spain and Portugal’s combined proposal will see the 2030 World Cup take place across three continents and six countries to mark the tournament’s centenary, with Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay hosting celebratory games.
Uruguay hosted the first ever World Cup in 1930.
Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay had in 2022 submitted a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup, but FIFA announced last year that Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay would instead each host one match during the tournament.
Saudi Arabia will become the second nation from the Middle East to host the quadrennial tournament in 2034, 12 years after neighbours Qatar staged the 2022 edition.
Australia and Indonesia were in talks over a joint bid for the 2034 tournament, but dropped out before Saudi was announced as the sole bidder.
HURDLES
Both bids have already been criticised.
The decision to host the 2030 World Cup across three continents has been panned by climate activists because of the increased emissions from the extra travel required.
FIFA has said it will take measures to “mitigate the environmental impact“.
The 2034 bid by Saudi Arabia has been criticised because of the country’s human rights record and desert climate, much in the same way as the Qatar World Cup.
The Saudi climate will likely force FIFA to hold the tournament in the Northern Hemisphere winter, just like it did in Qatar, where the event took place from late November to mid-December.
That timeframe will coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, with reports now suggesting the 2034 tournament could be held in January instead, risking a clash with the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
FIFA said the Saudi bid did not stipulate a proposed window and that they would collaborate with stakeholders to “determine the optimal timing”.
HUMAN RIGHTS
A World Cup in Saudi Arabia will also spark debate about the Kingdom’s record on human rights and lead to accusations of ‘sportswashing’.
Amnesty International and the Sport & Rights Alliance (SRA) last month urged FIFA to halt the process to pick Saudi as hosts unless it announces major reforms before the vote.
The Kingdom has invested heavily in sport over the last few years, although critics, including women’s rights groups and members of the LGBTQ community, allege it is using its Public Investment Fund to sportswash its human rights record.
The country denies accusations of human rights abuses and says it protects its national security through its laws.
Hammad Albalawi, head of Saudi Arabia’s bid, told Reuters this month that the country has made significant progress in human rights.
-Reuters
Mexico’s education authorities agreed on Monday to keep the 2025-2026 school calendar unchanged, reversing a proposed early end to the academic year that had drawn criticism from parents and raised questions about disruptions linked to the World Cup.
Related Story: https://sportsvillagesquare.com/2026/05/09/mexico-president-wavers-on-plan-to-cut-school-year-by-40-days-for-the-world-cup/
The federal education ministry and state authorities unanimously agreed to preserve the existing 185-day school calendar, Education Minister Mario Delgado said, meaning the school year will still end on July 15 as originally scheduled.
Delgado said the agreement came in response to a call from President Claudia Sheinbaum, while also giving certainty to millions of Mexican families that organise their daily routines around the school calendar.
Authorities said states could still make local adjustments in extraordinary circumstances, including extreme heat or logistical challenges related to the World Cup.
Delgado had previously floated ending the school year on June 5 instead of July 15, citing high temperatures and the need to ease pressure in host cities during the tournament, which Mexico will co-host with the United States and Canada.
-Reuters
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Thousands of people, led by mothers of those who have disappeared during decades of drug violence, marched in Mexico’s capital on Sunday, protesting the violence and impunity plaguing the country as it prepares to co-host the FIFA World Cup.
Collectives of mothers of the missing, who march every Mother’s Day, called on soccer fans to join them, saying in a statement that “there is nothing to celebrate, because the mothers of Mexico are playing the most difficult match: the one for justice.”
“Mexico, champion in disappearances,” protesters chanted as they marched down Paseo de la Reforma, the signature boulevard in Mexico City, holding banners and signs emblazoned with pictures of missing people. They passed a roundabout surrounded by metal barriers that are permanently covered with pictures of the disappeared.
“We had to start fighting, because no one wanted to take charge of the disappearance (case),” said Graciela Perez Rodriguez, whose daughter and four other relatives disappeared in 2012 in the northern state of Tamaulipas as they travelled on a highway after a trip to the U.S.
Mexico has more than 130,000 missing people, with disappearances surging after 2006, when the country launched its war on drug cartels.
Police and other government officials are often implicated in the crimes. Mothers who search for their missing children themselves when authorities fail to act are sometimes also targeted by criminal groups and killed.
In March, Mexican authorities said they had potentially identified more than 40,000 people listed as disappeared who may be alive, after a review of the national registry of missing persons showed some activity across other government records.
But the public policy group Mexico Evalua found there has been a 200% increase in disappearances over the last decade, due to the growing power of organised crime groups.
Rodriguez said she worries that the case of her missing family members is no longer a priority since almost 14 years have passed.
-Reuters
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Players making their first appearance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup will wear special debut patches on their jerseys in a groundbreaking initiative aimed at creating unique football collectables for fans around the world.
The innovation, introduced as part of a new licensing agreement between FIFA and sports merchandise giant Fanatics, will see the commemorative patches removed after each player’s World Cup debut and transformed into collectable trading cards by Topps.
The initiative means several global stars, including Erling Haaland and Lamine Yamal, are expected to receive debut patches when they make their first appearances at football’s biggest tournament this summer.
According to reports, every member of the Scotland squad will also qualify for the commemorative badge as the country returns to the World Cup after a lengthy absence.
The design of the debut patch has yet to be unveiled, but the concept mirrors a system already used in American sports and recently introduced into Major League Soccer in 2024.
Under the proposed arrangement, each participating team will receive a stock of debut patches, which will be attached to the upper-right chest area of a player’s shirt before his first World Cup match.
Once the game is completed, the patch will be removed and embedded into a one-of-a-kind trading card that will later be distributed randomly in collectable hobby boxes produced by Topps.
Although FIFA has not confirmed whether players will autograph the cards, the MLS version of the programme includes signed editions that have become highly sought-after among collectors.
The Fanatics licensing agreement with FIFA officially begins in 2031, meaning the debut cards from both the 2026 and 2030 FIFA World Cups will only become commercially available after that date.
The 2026 tournament is expected to generate more than 600 debut cards, especially with several nations preparing for their maiden World Cup appearances.
Among the debutant countries are Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan.
Several nations are also returning to the tournament after long absences, including Scotland, Norway, Paraguay, Turkey and New Zealand.
African representatives Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire, alongside Bosnia and Herzegovina, are also returning to the World Cup for the first time in 12 years and are expected to have squads filled with tournament debutants.
The initiative is expected to add a fresh commercial and historical dimension to the FIFA World Cup, turning players’ first moments on football’s grandest stage into permanent memorabilia for future generations.
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