Melbourne football fans risk missing out on Men’s World Cup matches as part of an Australian bid unless Victoria can solve its rectangular stadium conundrum. The warning comes as Football Australia (FA) seeks to leverage the success of the Women’s World Cup into an imminent bid for the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup and another try for the Men’s World Cup in 2034.
The FA chief executive, James Johnson, said there were three options for Melbourne to be part of a 2034 bid. “There would have to be investment into a stadium like the MCG to ‘rectangulise’ or ‘footballise’ it,” he said.
“Or there would need to be an upgrade to AAMI Park because it’s not big enough to host even a group stage match of a Men’s World Cup, or there needs to be a new rectangular stadium built.”
Asked if the Victorian government would consider building an 80,000-seat rectangular stadium, the premier, Daniel Andrews, said: “We’ve got a stadium that seats 100,000 and it can be made a rectangle and it has been done in the past.”
Fifa requires World Cup bids to include grounds of at least 40,000 for group stage matches, and 60,000 or more for knockout matches. Rectangular grounds are preferred given the improved viewing experience and atmosphere they offer.
Melbourne’s largest rectangular venue, AAMI Park, has a capacity of 30,000 and was used during the Women’s World Cup group stage and round of 16. But the city missed out any of the marquee fixtures of the tournament such as the opener, semi-finals or final. These matches were held at the 50,000-capacity Eden Park in Auckland, the 55,000-seat Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, and Accor Stadium in Sydney which has room for approximately 80,000.
The MCG’s capacity is 100,000, and the similarly oval-shaped Marvel Stadium has room for 55,000 fans. The AFL-owned Marvel Stadium has previously used a rectangular configuration for football matches by bringing in the lower tier of seats.
Johnson said building reconfiguring stadiums was expensive. “It’s analysis around whether it’s a smarter investment to actually build something new,” he said.
Access to the MCG also poses a challenge given the tournament’s overlap with the AFL season. As part of the failed 2022 World Cup bid, negotiations in 2009 between football officials and the AFL over access and compensation were protracted and often performed in public through the media.
Manchester United played Melbourne Victory in an exhibition match at the MCG last year during AFL season, which was attended by 74,000 supporters. However, Fifa has strict requirements over access to stadiums in order to strip them of branding and ensure the condition of the surface. A Men’s World Cup might preclude a stadium’s use from other events for up to two months.
The failed bid for the 2022 men’s tournament held in Qatar cost taxpayers $46m and was widely criticised after it attracted just one vote from Fifa’s decision-makers. However, Johnson said the success of the Women’s World Cup means another bid is now worth considering.
“What’s important is that the conversations need to begin now, and the agenda needs to begin being shaped because when we do bid for the next Men’s World Cup, we need to be ready,” he said.
Johnson warned governments a potential bid for the 2034 should be considered as part of any imminent stadium investment, and that spending on rectangular stadiums with capacities less than 40,000 in the next decade would be a “potential leakage of investment”.
The FA boss said his organisation is working with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to consult with Asian neighbours about a joint bid for the 2034 tournament. “We know we’ve got a solid partner in New Zealand, we’ve proved that for 100 years,” he said. “But what other potential partners in the region are there?”
More imminent is the deadline for bids for the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup, where Australian faces competition with Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan. Saudi Arabia’s women’s team only entered the Fifa rankings in March, but the country has emerged as one of the largest investors in football in recent years.
“They’re keen like we are,” Johnson said, declining to offer his perspective on the rival bid. “What we did well in the Women’s World Cup bid was to be really focused on our bid, and we trusted the process.”
Johnson said he wants Australia to help increase the prominence of the Asian Cup. “If it’s held in Australia, we will fill stadia for this competition, we will break broadcast audiences for this competition, we will elevate the standing of this competition.”
Football Australia is in discussions with federal and state governments over the 2026 bid and is seeking cooperation and investment to set up the bid management body. The federal government provided approximately $5m for FA for the Women’s World Cup bid, as well as more funding to deliver the tournament, alongside income tax exemptions for Fifa and the host entity.
A decision on the host for 2026 Women’s Asian Cup is due to be made in the first quarter of next year.
