Next month, FIFA is expected to hold a ceremony to officially announce Saudi Arabia as the host of the 2034 World Cup. This Middle Eastern country is expected to hold the flag to host the biggest football festival on the planet in November 2023 after Australia withdrew at the last minute. The deadline for countries to register to host the 2034 World Cup is 11:00 p.m. on October 31, 2023, but right before this time, the Atlantic representative had given up the race.
Unlike the other continents, Europe often organizes quite grandly the draw for the World Cup qualifiers in the region. In 2015, Russia held a very large-scale draw for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. With the 2022 World Cup, the draw for the entire final round will be held online in Zurich, Switzerland in December 2020. At that time, the whole world was struggling to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, so it was difficult for the regions to organize separately as usual.
With the World Cup increasing the number of teams and Europe benefiting the most (with more tickets), the qualifying round in the old continent will be of the most interest. Therefore, FIFA has made a slight change to the qualifying format in Europe. 55 teams will be divided into 7 groups of 5 teams and 5 groups of 4 teams. The teams in the group with 5 representatives will start playing in the qualifying round from March 2025. Meanwhile, groups with 4 teams will play the earliest from September 2025.
The 12 teams that finish the qualifying round as group winners will qualify for the 2026 World Cup. The remaining 4 representatives will be found after the play-off matches.
Returning to the story of why the draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Europe will be held online, according to The Guardian, Mr. Gianni Infantino is trying to avoid criticism. The head of FIFA is the focus of a public storm targeting himself when he gives Saudi Arabia the World Cup hosting rights in 2034.
Although before the 11pm deadline on October 31, 2023, Saudi Arabia was the only country to hold the right to host, but Infantino's decision to give the country the hosting rights was opposed. European media said that although only Saudi Arabia is a candidate to host, the voting process from members must still be carried out. If FIFA member countries are allowed to vote to accept or reject Saudi Arabia as host of the 2034 World Cup, it is unlikely that the majority will agree with Infantino's opinion.
The Guardian also said that organizing the 2026 World Cup qualifiers online will help Infantino avoid meeting representatives of football federations in the old continent, who are already unpopular with FIFA's president after favoring Saudi Arabia.
