After the huge success of the Women’s World Cup, there may not be a better time for Australia to bid for the biggest event on the planet – the men’s edition. This time however, help will be needed and not just from New Zealand and not just because there would be 48 teams instead of 32 and more stadiums required. South-east Asia is the key and having the continent involved and onside means that there should be no need for animated kangaroos in last-ditch pitch videos.
It is often forgotten that, in football terms, Australia is not just a member of the Asian Football Confederation but has also joined the Asean Football Federation (AFF). The biennial AFF Championships – the most visible, colourful, and meaningful of all the regional tournaments staged by Asia’s five sub-federations – flies under the radar in Australia, as the Socceroos do not participate. But with not far short of 700 million inhabitants living in the most passionate football hotbed of the continent, south-east Asia makes up a significant part of the beautiful game.
There have been discussions within Asean of a joint bid for the 2034 tournament. Initial talks in 2019, led by the Thai prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, were followed this March with various sporting officials. Like many topics talked about in this 10-nation body – that has a long way to go to reach the levels of integration seen in the European Union – it has not yet developed into anything concrete. The idea is sound though. The prospect of games in cities such as Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Hanoi and Jakarta is exciting and enticing for fans and officials around the world.
South-east Asia has never hosted anything like the World Cup. It could be done – Fifa’s boss, Gianni Infantino, said in 2021 that part of the world has the economic and football capacity – but the presence of Australia, with the 2000 Olympics under its belt as well as its recent World Cup experience, would add something extra. A proposal which includes five or six countries is on the messy side, meaning that, as well as New Zealand, reaching out to Indonesia and perhaps the regional hub that is Singapore makes sense. Forget India and China, which do not have anything like the same passion for the game; Australia’s closest neighbour to the north is Asia’s real sleeping giant, with 275 million people.
The idea of joining hands with Indonesia is hardly revolutionary and there were discussions between Football Australia and its Jakarta counterpart back in 2019. Impacted by the Covid pandemic, these talks went quiet before returning to the table. They were swept away again by last October’s Kanjuruhan Stadium disaster, which cost 135 fans their lives. Then Indonesia was stripped of the Under-20 World Cup in March as Fifa stepped in after Bali’s governor said that Israel would not be welcome on the island.
Concerns that this would lead to Jakarta being frozen out as punishment were put to bed just three months later as it was awarded the Under-17 World Cup, which kicks off in November. Fifa is still keen on the development of Indonesian football and the country is determined that such a situation will not happen again. The same is true with stadium safety and infrastructure. Infantino loves talk of legacies and improvements in this area would be more tangible than most. Having Australia with its experience would help.
Indonesia is the romantic option, but whether Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore or Vietnam, reaching out to south-east Asia helps in other ways – and regardless, even the attempt would help develop crucial relationships with the region. It is highly unlikely that Australia would win a World Cup bid without the support of the confederation it belongs to.
At the moment, if there is to be an Asian candidate then it is Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is redrawing the boundaries of international sport and is interested in the World Cup, possibly with Egypt and Greece. AFC boss Sheikh Salman has said that the organisation will support any Saudi bid but a credible south-east Asian entry changes things and would also likely draw support from further east from Korea, Japan and elsewhere. These countries are increasingly frustrated at what they see as the west getting things their own way with the 2019, 2023 and 2027 Asian Cups going to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia respectively. Not to mention that the Middle East has just hosted the tournament.
The potential prize of half Asia and all of Oceania on board presents a foundation that can be built upon. It puts Australia in the game at least, especially when the glow from the women’s tournament that is still being felt around the world, is added to the mix. Nothing is certain when it comes to Fifa and the World Cup but south-east Asia is the only hope that Australia has.
