Afghan Voice Agency (AVA): The 2026 World Cup will be the beginning of a new era for FIFA, because for the first time three countries will host it, and the number of participating teams will also increase to 48. The increase in the number of teams and hosts will be a special opportunity for small countries to try their luck to host and advance.
Now, in a situation where FIFA is preparing to choose the host of the next two World Cups and a fierce competitive campaign has been launched to choose the host of the 2030 World Cup, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in an important and unexpected decision, has become the first group to They are candidates for the 2034 World Cup.
The Southeast Asian Union, known as "ASEAN", is a multi-country organization that was formed more than half a century ago among the countries of this region, and now it has increased its activity in the football sector. Of course, a look at the member countries of this union shows that they have never been among the contenders at the level of Asian football, but now they have stepped beyond the continent and started to host the World Cup.
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and ten countries are members of this union, all of whom are eager to hold the 2034 World Cup in their country. Of course, in the meantime, Myanmar's civil war and the unfavorable state of infrastructure in countries such as the Philippines, Laos and Brunei practically reduce their chances of holding this big football event to zero.
The interesting thing is that Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, the four Southeast countries, were in charge of hosting the 2007 Asian Nations Cup, and now it seems that together with Singapore, they are the five serious candidates of this continent for the coordinated holding of these competitions.
Meanwhile, Vietnam is also facing serious infrastructure problems, but the ten-year opportunity will allow them to develop themselves according to their economic situation and prepare for the third hosting in Asia. Of course, all these countries are archipelagos, and the population of half of them does not reach 100 million people in total, and they occupy a small part of Asia.
Another point is that due to the presence of the host teams in the World Cup, if the Southeast Union takes over the hosting, they will be allocated 10 World Cup quotas, which is impossible for FIFA. In other words, if Infantino, who always promotes the slogan of globalism, intends to make his next surprise by donating hosting to "ASEAN", he must also solve this challenge and at least eliminate an internal qualifier to select 2-3 attendance quotas. These countries should prepare.
Of course, the chances of the South East Asian Union for hosting may not be very high because with the entry of competitors from Europe, South America and other parts of Asia into this campaign, they may be lost in this competition, but the mere presence and request to host is also an interesting news. It shows the movement of Asian football towards development.