Southeast Asia joins hands with Japan to create an alliance to host the World Cup?

Sponichi Annex wrote: “The East Asian Football Federation (EAFF), of which Japan is a member, is joining hands with the AFF to co-host the 2046 World Cup. The EAFF and AFF have been planning this since March. The two federations have shared their intention to co-host the 2046 World Cup. Discussions have been held on the bidding documents. No formal documents have been exchanged yet, but the atmosphere is very positive."

JFA President Tsuneyasu Miyamoto also clarified this information somewhat with the statement: "We did not officially exchange documents, but we reached a consensus that we can jointly carry out the plan to host the 2046 World Cup.

"Indonesia and Australia, two countries that have abandoned their bid to host the 2034 World Cup, have expressed their desire to join the race. South Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore are also interested in hosting the 2046 World Cup," he said.

With the new format from 32 to 48 teams, the total number of matches is very large. Therefore, FIFA's requirements will be stricter than before. Specifically, the host country must have at least 14 stadiums with a capacity of over 40,000 seats. In the semi-finals, matches must be held in stadiums with 60,000 seats and the stadium hosting the final match must have at least 80,000 seats.

Australia has many football stadiums with a capacity of more than 80,000.

Currently, Japan does not have a stadium with a capacity of over 80,000 seats. To implement the plan, they need to expand their infrastructure or the most likely option is to join hands with partners. Indonesia and Australia meet these requirements when they own at least one stadium with a capacity of 80,000 seats.

"Japan has not hosted a large-scale international tournament since the 2002 World Cup. So we believe we can succeed," Miyamoto concluded.

Since the 2026 World Cup, the method of forming a joint bid has become popular. The US, Canada and Mexico will host the 2026 edition, and Spain, Portugal and Morocco will host the 2030 edition. Therefore, Japan is confident that it will find a partner to bid together. According to the principle of changing the host continent after each edition, 2046 is the ripe time for Asia to host the World Cup.