The road to the award
Saudi Arabia announced its intention to bid on 4 October 2023, and unveiled its bid logo and the slogan "Growing Together" on 1 March 2024. The bid book was submitted in Paris on 29 July 2024 by a delegation led by Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal.
FIFA's evaluation scored the bid 419.8 out of 500, the highest in the history of World Cup bidding. On 11 December 2024 an Extraordinary FIFA Congress, with all 211 member associations taking part, appointed Saudi Arabia host by acclamation.
Cities and stadiums
The tournament will be the first with 48 teams hosted by a single country. Five host cities, Riyadh, Jeddah, Al-Khobar, Abha and NEOM, share fifteen stadiums: eight in Riyadh, four in Jeddah and one in each of the others.
The opening match and the final are planned for King Salman International Stadium in Riyadh, with about 92,000 seats. FIFA has yet to set the dates, which must take account of Ramadan and the Hajj season.