The tournament may be a decade away but work has already started on Saudi Arabia’s World Cup cliffhanger.
Welcome to Qiddiya City, on the outskirts of Riyadh, soon to be home of one of the most distinct stadiums in the world – perched no less than 650ft in the air.
This is science fiction meets James Bond. Renowned designers Populous explain it more eloquently. The exterior is ‘formed by a collection of modular cubes that act as the extension of the Tuwaiq cliffs, framed by portals that glimpse into the future of the city’.
Its aim – other than to host football matches, including at the 2034 World Cup that Saudi is soon to be awarded – is to ‘connect the upper plateau and Gaming and Esports District to the theme parks below’. Those cubes ‘spill down the cliff to create a massive digital canvas’.
There are three stands, with one side open, offering a dramatic vista of the city itself. The climate will be controlled via a lake underneath which collects rain water to pre-cool the air conditioning system.
There will be gadgets everywhere. The pitch will slide back to reveal a multi-event surface for concerts, drone racing and Esports. There will be a retractable roof and a digital wall which will drop down in front of the view. At the touch of a button the surface will flip from grass to artificial turf.
The Mohammed bin Salman Stadium will be a mega new build for Saudi Arabia World Cup
The ground is set to be 650ft in the air and on the edge of a cliff, with cubes going down edge
There are three stands, with one side open, offering a dramatic vista of the city itself
The only thing missing is a bald tyrant, surveying the scene mischievously while stroking a cat – but no doubt that can be arranged.
‘There’s been a lot of talk about what the integration of physical stadiums and digital technology will look like,’ one Saudi-based industry insider tells me. ‘This will be the first time we have seen that brought to life.
‘SoFi Stadium in LA has a massive screen. This stadium IS a massive screen.
‘The official announcement from Fifa will come on December 11, but given there is no opposing bid (and that president Gianni Infantino has already said it), Saudi Arabia will become the second Middle East host of the biggest sporting spectacle on the planet, and – with money no obstacle – it has already launched its attempt to raise the bar.’
The Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium, named after the country’s Prime Minister, Crown Prince and de facto ruler, will be one of 11 new venues for the 2034 showpiece to go with four current stadiums.
In Neom, a brand-new city under construction in the north-west, the arena will form part of a futuristic project known as The Line – no cars, no streets and no carbon emissions for nine million residents all in a single, 105-mile-long building.
The 46,000-seat Neom Stadium will be accessible via high-speed lifts and driverless vehicles. Players will not have to take a team bus to the ground, but instead will step out of their hotel rooms, head to the elevator and be taken to the dressing room on a higher level, 350 metres above the ground.
Riyadh will take eight of the new venues, including the showpiece 92,760 King Salman International Stadium, which will stage the opening game and the final. Jeddah, Al Khobar and Abha will also host as 48 teams from around the globe descend on the Kingdom.
It is a gargantuan task that will require the work of armies of migrant workers – which in itself raises the first of many questions.
The official announcement of the tournament being in the country will come early next month
But there are no opposing bidders, and the plans to build a number of new grounds are in place
Cristiano Ronaldo, if still playing when he is 44, will play his home club games at the ground
The 46,000-seat Neom Stadium will be accessible via high-speed lifts and driverless vehicles
Riyadh will play host to eight grounds, including the 92,760 King Salman International Stadium
Only last month, in an ITV documentary, workers complained of 16-hour days, of having their passports confiscated and in some cases of not being paid. The programme featured harrowing footage of a Nepalese worker, whose family and colleagues said had complained of feeling seriously ill for two months only to receive no medical treatment. As colleagues carried his subsequently lifeless body, protests erupted around the camp.
The documentary also featured claims that 21,000 Indian, Bangladeshi and Nepalese workers had died in the country since 2017, each working on Saudi’s Vision 2030, a vast, government-bankrolled project aimed at diversifying the economy.
Those allegations have been strongly refuted, with the country’s National Council for Occupational Safety and Health claiming saying the work-related fatality rate stands at 1.12 per 100,000, which would place Saudi Arabia among those with the lowest rates of work-related deaths worldwide.
On the outskirts of the capital, where a giant teepee hosts an exhibition on the World Cup, I ask the man leading the bid what assurances he can give that those involved in making this vision become a reality will be looked after.
‘First and foremost, we care,’ Hammad Albalawi tells me. ‘We have seen over 150 social reforms creating opportunity for everyone. In the areas of workers welfare, we have 660,000 organisations that have to have their documentation uploaded so the government can track them.
‘Workers now have the freedom to move freely and change employers. Two weeks ago we saw the launch of a new initiative, an insurance programme, where major contractors are insured by the government.
‘God forbid if they go bankrupt and can’t pay workers, the government will step in and fulfil the commitment. We are committed.’
There are other questions. The world will be invited but will the world – regardless of sexual orientation – be made to feel welcome?
A repeat of a winter tournament in Qatar is almost inevitable due to the extreme temperatures
Hammad Albalawi has explained how the country ‘cares’ and is welcoming to all tourists
‘In terms of the LGBTQ+ community, we have received 27million tourists last year, we have had over 100 international sporting events attended by 3million sports fans,’ Albalawi says.
‘These fans entered the country, respected the law of privacy, enjoyed their time, and they come and visit again. And this is the biggest learning – for people to really understand Saudi Arabia, come and visit, come and understand what it feels like to be in our country, because you will be respected and hosted with open arms and open hearts.
‘We respect privacy. You came through our borders. Has anyone asked you your sexual orientation? Have you ever not felt comfortable? Everyone is welcome. You respect the culture you introduce yourself to – that’s what Saudis do when they travel to the UK. Your opinion should be based on facts.’
Albalawi was educated in the UK and the US and is a Newcastle fan – which he insists pre-dates the PIF takeover at St James’ Park by decades. He can rattle off statistics and anecdotes. We speak with Newcastle’s recent 1-0 victory over Arsenal, which is showing on a nearby iPad.
‘I haven’t missed a half of Newcastle football in more than 20 years,’ he says. ‘I tell a lie, the last one I missed was under Pardew, Newcastle 4 Arsenal 4 – remember? Tiote!!
’70 years without a trophy – I was there for the League Cup final against Manchester United. My daughter calls all her uncles by their first name apart from the one who supports (Manchester) United. She calls him “you”.’
It is November and we are in an air-conditioned room, which is welcome. Outside the temperature reaches highs of 28 Celsius and lows of 20 Celsius. It is manageable. In the traditional World Cup months of June and July, however, highs of 42 are common. Surely this means a repeat of Qatar, and a winter tournament, is inevitable.
‘It’s a decision from Fifa in consultation with confederations,’ says Albalawi. ‘If we are awarded the right to host we would love to be part of those conversations. We will be ready no matter what the occasion is.’
Albalawi is a Newcastle fan, saying he hasn’t missed a half ‘in more than 20 years’
He has also remained coy on alcohol potentially being allowed in the country for the World Cup
And what of booze? Alcohol is outlawed in Saudi Arabia and lessons may well have been learned from the ludicrous situation in Qatar, which saw a ban drop two days before kick-off.
‘We appreciate fans want to come and have a good time, support their team,’ says Albalawi. ‘We appreciate they want a friendly environment where they can bring their kids.
‘We have seen this has met with great proof points from the three million that have attended sports events here. Inside the stadium you see the passion of the fans, that shows you can have brilliant football games without alcohol.’
Albalawi adds that they will work with Fifa but it does not sound like there will be the same uncertainty heading into this tournament.
Those involved are keen to avoid comparisons with Qatar and it feels like a key point. Over several days it quickly becomes clear that this is a very different country from the 2022 hosts.
For a start, when you visit Saudia Arabia, you actually get to meet people who are from Saudi Arabia. This is also a football-mad population.
When I visited Jeddah last month to watch Al-Ittihad take on Al-Ahli in the ‘Sea Derby’ it was noticeable that groups of Ultras from both clubs took their seats behind each goal two hours prior to kick-off, before trading largely good-natured insults from 100 yards away.
The away fans sang that there are only two things in Jeddah – the sea and Al-Ahli. When a member of Al-Ittihad’s backroom staff emerged from the tunnel to lay out the balls and cones for pre-match practice, he was cheered to the rafters.
The nation is football-mad, with fans taking their seats early and players showing respect too
There are passages of play which resembled the pace and skill of a Premier League match
The standard was what you would expect if you dropped a bundle of the planet’s top players into League One, but there were passages of play which resembled the pace and skill of a Premier League match. The tempo was slower, albeit with frequent bursts into life.
There were also regular reminders of the wealth involved, which are not limited to the playing squads. At half-time a fan won a car and cheerily held aloft a giant cardboard key.
Up in the stands, fans of both sides happily mingled. The numbers of women present was also noticeable. There was no hint of trouble – although there was an amusing delay when a sandstorm interrupted proceedings.
Fans of Al-Ittihad, at that point clinging on to a 1-0 lead, took the opportunity to hurl the plastic sheets from their pre-match display down from the stands. The wind then took them onto the pitch, causing the referee to suspend play.
Humble ex-Chelsea man N’Golo Kante was one of few players who help to clean it up. A refreshed home side then comfortably held out for the three points, with England striker Ivan Toney cutting an isolated figure.
After the final whistle both sets of players stood in front of their fans for 30 seconds, in a traditional display of respect.
The following night, the colours and the city changed but the atmosphere remained raucous. Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr hosted Al-Hilal in the Riyadh derby and again, fans were in to trade chants a good couple of hours before kick-off. Again, the balls and cones man was cheered onto the field.
Once more, there was a choreographed pre-match tifo display that stretched across two stands. They take it seriously. Indeed, one insider told me that clubs have departments set up to ensure they put on the best show.
Ronaldo was mocked by Al-Hilal in the Riyadh derby, who chanted ‘Messi’ in his direction
N’Golo Kante is one of the top players who are also now playing in the Saudi Pro League
Ronaldo started, took free kicks and failed to score. He was taunted with chants of ‘Messi, Messi’ from the thousands in the away end. His mark was everywhere. Those close to his club say he has a huge say in all aspects of its operation. The sacking of the previous manager and appointment of the current incumbent both came with his seal of approval.
Should he stick around to 2029 when the space-age Prince MBS Stadium is due to open – and even though he would be 44, we shouldn’t rule it out – it will become his new home, hosting Al-Nassr and Neymar’s Al-Hilal.
Al-Nassr, seen as the underdogs despite the presence of Ronaldo, Aymeric Laporte and Sadio Mane in their XI, took the lead but their visitors, last season’s Saudi Pro League champions featuring former Premier League faces in Aleksandar Mitrovic, Joao Cancelo and Kalidou Koulibaly, scored a deserved equaliser.
While the spectacle of the league could not be questioned, there were regular reminders that there is a long way to go ahead of 2034. The post-match press conference, for example, had a distinct Keystone Cops vibe.
There was a minor row ahead of its start when one reporter sat in the middle of the front row and, wearing traditional headdress, refused a request to slouch in his seat, thus blocking the view from the camera at the back of the room.
At various stages with the managers speaking, mobile phones went off and conversations broke out. Reporters stood up and left halfway through. ‘Being a journalist isn’t a respected profession here,’ one onlooker explained. ‘The questions aren’t great.’
An army of Westerners are currently in the country with the aim of training locals who will then run large parts of the tournament. The emphasis is on building something that will create a legacy.
Many of the venues will be close to Fifa’s minimum World Cup capacity requirement of 45,000, to ensure that they can continue to be filled after the show has left town.
Those involved insist that this is not sportswashing, rather that it is part of a country’s drive to develop and modernise. I am told that two years ago there were zero girls registered as playing football in schools and that today there are more than 80,000.
Those involved insist that this is not sportswashing, but part of drive to develop and modernise
A couple of weeks before my visit, a friend was in Riyadh for business. She met a couple of young women who she had previously taught overseas. They told her that while there was still a long way to go, much had changed over the last five years. They pointed out that they can drive, run their own companies and wear Western clothes in public should they wish. Of three meetings with Saudi firms she attended, all had women in the room.
It would appear that there is substance behind the aesthetics. ‘When Brazil won the World Cup in 1994 two thirds of our population was not born,’ Albalawi had pointed out. ‘The demand is far bigger than the supply of facilities and we are changing that.’
He added that criticism from the west makes them ‘stronger, every day stronger’.
‘We are working towards what feels right for us,’ he added. ‘For the Saudi people, for the Saudi vision. People should come here and see it for themselves.’
