Qatar bids to host 2029 Club World Cup in winter

While the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is still underway, football's governing body is already looking ahead to the next edition. One of the countries bidding to become host is Qatar, which famously held the national teams' World Cup in 2022.

The Guardian revealed on Sunday that FIFA has met with Qatari representatives during the tournament in the United States, where they expressed their desire to organise the 2029 edition.

Qatar argues it can deliver a tournament with a zero carbon footprint, unlike the United States, where clubs have had to fly continuously between 11 venues over vast distances. Furthermore, the nine stadiums built for the 2022 World Cup remain intact, six of which are regularly used and could all be employed for the event.

The major drawback is obvious: if the US already faced issues with scheduling and temperatures, imagine Qatar's conditions. Therefore, as was the case in 2022, the Club World Cup would need to be held in winter if hosted by Qatar — that is, in December, which would once again cause problems for European league teams.

FIFA chose the US to host the Club World Cup by direct appointment, but is expected to organise an official bidding process like it does for national team tournaments, selecting the bid that best suits its interests.

Qatar is the fourth country to declare its candidacy. Spain and Morocco have already held talks with FIFA, as they hope to use the event as a prelude to the 2030 World Cup, which will also be hosted partly in Portugal. Brazil has also met with Gianni Infantino in Miami to confirm its intentions.