Malaysia Could Host The World Cup For The First Time Ever

But there is one condition.

Malaysia would have to be part of a joint bid with our Southeast Asian neighbours Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam in order to stand a chance to host the world's biggest football tournament.

According to FIFA executive committee member Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, the three ASEAN nations have expressed their interests in becoming co-hosts with us.

However, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and Malaysian government would have to give the green light first.

In case you didn't know, a joint bid is possible because FIFA allows up to three or four countries to co-host the event, like how the United States, Canada and Mexico had won the bid to host the 2026 tournament.

So far, we have yet to see a Southeast Asian country qualify for the World Cup because our national teams aren't as strong as countries like South Korea or Japan to enter the quota for Asia.

"It is time for the ASEAN region to be given an opportunity, and it will allow the countries to improve their infrastructures and strengthen their respective national teams," said Tengku Abdullah, as reported by the New Straits Times.

Well, we have 16 years to do so, so we still have ample time to prepare.

In fact, there is also a proposal in the works to expand the World Cup to 48 teams so that teams from Southeast Asia will be given a separate slot without relying on the Asia quota.

The deadline to register a bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup is in 2026.