AIFF interested in co-hosting FIFA World Cup 2034, Kalyan Chaubey suggests hosting 10 matches

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All India Football Federation (AIFF) is interested in co-hosting the FIFA World Cup 2034, reported news agency PTI, who revealed the details as per an internal circular of the national football body.

Currently, Saudi Arabia is the only nation that has bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2034 and India were among the nations to support the move at an Emergency Congress of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held on October 18.

AIFF president Kalyan Chaubet reportedly told the executive committee members that India should consider hosting 10 matches of the FIFA World Cup 2034. The tournament will be a 48-team event with 104 matches.

"The president informed the house that India should think or plan to work towards being a co-host for the World Cup in 2034," the draft minutes of the AIFF Executive Committee held on November 9 said.

FIFA decided to stage the 2030 World Cup on three continents (Africa, Europe, and South America), hence it limited the region eligible to host the FIFA World Cup 2034 to Asia or Oceania. After India withdrew its bid to host the continental championship, Saudi Arabia was chosen to host the AFC Asian Cup in 2027.

Co-hosting the FIFA World Cup is not new as Japan and South Korea hosted the 2002 edition while the 2026 World Cup will be played across the USA, Canada and Mexico. The 2030 World Cup will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco. The 2030 edition will also be the first time that the tournament is played across two continents.

Apart from that, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the first time that the prestigious tournament will host 48 nations across 16 venues in North America.