CAIRO: Egypt has requested the right to host a set of group-stage matches for the 2034 World Cup which will be held in Saudi Arabia, the African country’s football federation president said on Wednesday.

“Saudi Arabia will stand up and organise a historic edition of the World Cup, and we wish our Saudi brothers every success,” Hany Abo Rida said during the 14th CAF extraordinary general assembly in Cairo.

“But at the same time we hope that [FIFA president] Mr. [Gianni] Infantino will grant us, as Africans and Egyptians, the honour of hosting and organising one of the World Cup groups in 2034.”

The tournament will mark the centenary of Egypt being the first African nation to take part in a World Cup, after their appearance in the 1934 edition held in Italy.

As the only candidate, Saudi Arabia was officially designated by the FIFA Congress on December 11 as the host of the 2034 World Cup.

Saudi Arabia will become the third Arab country to host the World Cup, after Qatar in 2022 and Morocco in 2030, when it is co-hosting with Spain and Portugal.

Egyptian officials had previously expressed their desire to host the World Cup in 2034 and also launched an unsuccessful to bid to co-host the 2030 edition alongside Saudi Arabia and Greece.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2025