FIFA's decision for Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 Men's World Cup, citing the country's human rights record and accusations of "sportswashing." Amb. Gerald M. Feierstein, director of the Arabian Peninsula Affairs Program at the Middle East Institute,

Within days, Saudi had the key backing of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), scuppering any faint prospect of Australia teaming up with Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. That gave Saudi a free run at 2034, and the Australians duly bowed out of what can barely be called a race.

FIFA named the hosts for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups on Wednesday with Spain, Portugal and Morocco getting the former edition and Saudi Arabia controversially landing the latter. There is minimal surprise at the outcome given that the two decisions have been considered a foregone conclusion since there was only one single candidate for each event.