The FIFA World Cup 2034 offers huge opportunities for investment in Host Nation Saudi Arabia, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said during the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum 2025 in the country’s capital Riyadh. Mr Infantino also spoke about the growth of women’s football, saying that FIFA was targeting USD 1 billion revenue for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in the future. The FIFA President took part in a fireside chat with Richard Attias, Founder and Chairman of the eponymous Richard Attias and Associates and Chairman of the Executive Committee, FII Institute. He appeared with the Official Match Ball for the 32-team FIFA Club World Cup 2025™, which will take place in the United States from 14 June to 13 July 2025 with Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal among the 32 participating teams.

Speaking about the FIFA World Cup, Mr Infantino said: “The opportunities are huge. Football is a game followed by five billion people around the world. We need to find a way to connect these five billion people, because that’s what they are watching: a (FIFA) World Cup, 104 games in one month, 104 Super Bowls in one month. “A competition like the (FIFA) World Cup is really transformative, not just for a country, and for a region, but really for the entire world. Football is, of course, the world’s number one sport. Five billion people are football fans, or soccer fans, around the world.” The FIFA World Cup 2034, the first with 48 teams to be held in a single nation, will showcase Saudi Arabia’s rich heritage, dynamic transformation and deep-rooted passion for football. The country also enjoys a growing reputation as a world-class international destination, hosting a number of sporting events, including the inaugural FIFA Series in 2024, the FIFA Club World Cup Saudi Arabia 2023™ and the upcoming 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

The FIFA President explained that countries such as Saudi Arabia could help football fulfil its potential financially. “The global football GDP (gross domestic product) in one year today is around USD 270 billion of which about 70% is produced in Europe,” he said.

Pointing out that the European GDP is much smaller when compared to the global GDP, the FIFA President added: “If the rest of the world, in particular Saudi Arabia or the United States of America, would do just 20% of what Europe does in soccer, we (could reach an amount of over) half a trillion or more of GDP impact (with our sport). The potential for football is huge.”

His message to all investors around the world was a simple one: “Invest in the beautiful game, it will be the best investment you can make!”

Mr Infantino spoke about how football can bring people together. “Five billion people who have nothing (else) in common: they speak different languages, they have different religions, they have different genders, social level, but they have this one thing in common – five billion people all over the world – something which is completely irrational, which is completely emotional and passionate, and it’s the love for football: the love of a game which takes you inside and brings you towards feelings that you can share with other people.” There are also new opportunities in women’s football, especially after the FIFA Council unanimously decided on 9 May 2025 to expand the FIFA Women’s World Cup from 32 to 48 teams, starting with the 2031 edition.

“Women's football and women in football are crucially important. The (FIFA) Women's World Cup, the next one is in Brazil in 2027, and the following one, again, is in North America in 2031,” he said. “It's growing as well, and exponentially, and we are targeting that as well to have (USD) 1 billion revenue just with the (FIFA) Women's World Cup to reinvest in the women's game.” Saudi Arabia itself introduced the Saudi Women’s League in 2022 while the women’s national team played their first matches in the same year. “Saudi Arabia, by the way, is doing exceptionally good, as well, by creating a women's league, a women's national team. Women's football is really the only team sport for women that has such a huge audience and impact as well,” Mr Infantino added.