Indonesia wants to host the 2034 World Cup with Australia, Malaysia and Singapore
Last week, FIFA, world football’s governing body, invited the Asian and Oceanian federations to bid to host the 2034 World Cup.
“We are discussing (a bid) with Australia,” PSSI chairman Erick Thohir said, as quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald. “When I visited Malaysia and Singapore, both countries expressed interest in joining Indonesia and Australia.”
Asked about a possible joint bid, Football Australia referred Reuters to a statement last week in which it said it was “exploring the possibility of a bid for the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup and/or the 2034 FIFA World Cup”. PSSI did not respond to Reuters‘ request for comment.
After announcing that Spain, Morocco, and Portugal would host the 2030 World Cup and that Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina would host the opening matches, FIFA invited Asia and Oceania to submit their bids for 2034.
Saudi Arabia quickly announced its intention to bid to host the World Cup and FIFA set 31 October as the deadline for other interested parties to make their intentions known. After Qatar hosted the 2022 edition, Thohir said it may be too early for the World Cup to return to the Middle East.
“We are very strong,” he said. “I think FIFA will realize that the Middle East hosted the World Cup with Qatar last year. The same was true of Japan and Korea. I’m sure FIFA will try other countries. The winning potential, if we join Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore, is also greater.”