Saudi fund set to drop five 2034 World Cup stadiums

Key Points

1. Saudi Arabia's PIF plans to scrap five of the new World Cup stadiums it proposed, people familiar said.
2. The cuts are tied to halted or slowed real estate megaprojects, including NEOM, Qiddiya Coast and New Murabba.
3. Saudi Arabia would host 2034 matches in 10 venues instead of 15, under a revised plan going to FIFA.

The latest:

Five new stadiums proposed for the 2034 men’s World Cup are set to be scrapped, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund preparing to tell organizers it will narrow its focus to three new venues, people familiar with the matter said. The revised plan, still being finalized before submission to FIFA, would leave the kingdom with 10 stadiums for the tournament instead of 15.

Details:

• The venues dropped: PIF is looking to abandon stadium plans at King Abdullah Economic City and Qiddiya Coast, both near Jeddah; Roshn and New Murabba in Riyadh; and NEOM in the northwest, the people said. Several are attached to broader property developments that have been halted or slowed.
• The NEOM stadium: Reuters earlier reported the cancellation of the NEOM venue, designed to sit on the roof of The Line, a 500-meter-tall skyscraper. Work on The Line has effectively ground to a halt, and NEOM has not allocated funding for the project until after at least 2030, according to earlier Semafor reporting.
• Qiddiya Coast: The kingdom had proposed a 45,000-seat stadium at Qiddiya Coast, a planned entertainment and tourism destination north of Jeddah. That development has also been put on hold, the people said.
• New Murabba: Another 45,000-capacity stadium in Riyadh’s New Murabba district is also set to be dropped. Work on the wider development slowed after the departure of Chief Executive Michael Dyke and the suspension of its centerpiece, a 400-meter-tall cube-shaped skyscraper with screens lining its interior.
• Still proceeding: Saudi Arabia is pressing ahead with other new stadiums, including one in Dhahran being developed by Saudi Aramco, plus the King Salman International Stadium and the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium in Riyadh, the people said.
• The new math: The cuts could leave the kingdom building just six new stadiums and refurbishing four existing ones for 2034. Saudi officials are still working on the updated proposals, and the plans could change, the people said.
• The 2027 test: Four of the stadiums earmarked for 2034 are also due to host matches at the 2027 Asian Cup, which starts in January, making it the first live test of the kingdom’s revised venue lineup.
• Security risk: The outlook for the Asian Cup going ahead in Saudi Arabia has been thrown into doubt by the kingdom’s involvement in the war in Yemen against Houthi militias. The group has launched multiple attacks on Saudi cities in recent weeks, shutting the capital’s airport and killing at least 18 people.
• No comment: PIF and the Saudi Ministry of Sport did not respond to requests for comment on the revised plan.

Background:

Qatar made a similar retreat before 2022, dropping four of the stadiums it had originally planned to build as the tournament drew closer. World Cup hosts routinely trim venue lists between bid and kickoff.

Between the lines:

The stadium cuts track the fate of the megaprojects they sit inside: The Line is stalled and unfunded until at least 2030, Qiddiya Coast is on hold, and New Murabba’s centerpiece tower is suspended. The venues surviving the cut — Dhahran, King Salman International, Prince Mohammed bin Salman — are standalone builds rather than showpieces of unfinished cities.

What’s next

Watch for the revised plan Saudi Arabia submits to FIFA and any confirmation of the final venue list. The 2027 Asian Cup kicks off in January, the first competition staged at four of the 2034 stadiums.