List of FIFA World Cup hosts

The choice of location was controversial in the earliest tournaments, given the three-week boat journey between South America and Europe, the two centers of strength in football at the time.

[2] The first tournament following World War II, held in Brazil in 1950, had three teams withdraw for either financial problems or disagreements with the organization.

Mexico City's Estadio Azteca and Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã are the only venues ever to have hosted two FIFA World Cup finals.

Uruguay in 1930, Italy in 1934, England in 1966, Germany in 1974, Argentina in 1978 and France in 1998 are the countries which organized an edition of the World Cup and won it.

Bids: Sweden decided to withdraw before the vote, allowing the only remaining candidate Italy to take the hosting job for the 1934 World Cup.

[5] Swedish delegates lobbied other countries at the FIFA Congress held in Rio de Janeiro around the opening of the 1950 World Cup finals.

This was until October 2007, during the selection of the host for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, when they announced that they will no longer continue with their continental rotation policy (see below).

[16][17] In March 2003, Sepp Blatter initially said Nigeria's plan to co host the 2010 FIFA World Cup with four African countries would not work.

Blazer stated, "I and others on the FIFA executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup.

FIFA announced on 29 October 2007 that it would no longer continue with its continental rotation policy, implemented after the 2006 World Cup host selection.

[36] In March 2017, FIFA's president Gianni Infantino confirmed that "Europe (UEFA) and Asia (AFC) had been excluded from the bidding following the selection of Russia and Qatar in 2018 and 2022 respectively.

[43] On 10 April 2017, Canada, the United States, and Mexico announced their intention to submit a joint bid to co-host, with three-quarters of the games to be played in the U.S., including the final.

[55] Before Uruguay and Argentina played out a goalless draw in Montevideo, FC Barcelona players Luis Suárez and Lionel Messi promoted the bid with commemorative shirts.

[59] "England is one of few countries that could stage even a 48-nation event in its entirety, while Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn made it clear earlier this year bidding for 2030 was an option.

"[61] On 16 July 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May expressed her support of the bid and her openness about discussions with football authorities.

[62][63] Although there had been no prior discussion with the Football Association, the Scottish FA also expressed its interest about joining a Home Nations bid.

[66] On 17 June 2018, the English Football Association announced that they were in talks with home nations over a UK-wide bid to host the 2030 World Cup.

[75] At the meeting of the Ministers of Youth and Sports of Serbia, Vanja Udovičić, Bulgaria's Krasen Kralev, Romania's Constantin Bogdan Matei and Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports of Greece, Giorgos Vasileiadis, it was officially confirmed that these four countries would submit a joint candidacy for the organization of the 2028 UEFA European Football Championship and the 2030 World Cup.

[80] In 2013, Nordin and Special Olympics Malaysia President, Datuk Mohamed Feisol Hassan, recalled the idea for ASEAN to jointly host a World Cup.

Under FIFA rules as of 2017, the 2030 World Cup cannot be held in Asia (AFC) as Asian Football Confederation members are excluded from the bidding following the selection of Qatar in 2022.

[83][84][85] Later, Malaysia withdrew from involvement, but Singapore and other ASEAN countries continued the campaign to submit a joint bid for the World Cup in 2034.

In February 2017, ASEAN held talks on launching a joint bid during a visit by FIFA President Gianni Infantino to Yangon, Myanmar.

Driyono added that due to geographical and infrastructure considerations and the expanded format (48 teams), at least two or three ASEAN countries combined would be in a position necessary to host matches.

[85][86] In September 2017, the Thai League 1 Deputy CEO Benjamin Tan, at the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Council meeting, confirmed that his Association has "put in their interest to bid and co-host" the 2034 World Cup with Indonesia.

[80][85] On the same occasion, the General Secretary of the AFF, Dato Sri Azzuddin Ahmad, confirmed that Indonesia and Thailand will submit a joint bid.

However, in June 2018, FIFA executive committee member and crown prince and regent of Pahang, Tengku Abdullah who is also the former President of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) expressed interest in joining the three countries in hosting the World Cup together.

Its Sports and Youth Minister Ashraf Sobhy said that Egypt has considered a bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup.

[92] Football Australia chief executive, James Johnson, said his organisation is "exploring the possibility" following FIFA's deadline for bids to be submitted by 31 October 2023.

[95] On 5 October, AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa backed Saudi Arabia's bid.

Various efforts have been made by FIFA to closely monitor the progress of football in Indonesia, starting from establishing a FIFA office for the Asia region in Indonesia to providing easy access players of Indonesian descent who pursue their careers abroad to represent the Indonesian national team.