The head of Asia Rugby has confirmed that the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar are preparing a joint bid to host either the 2035 or 2039 Rugby World Cup.
Qais Al Dhalai believes that a combined Gulf bid would set the stage for “the most successful event in the history of rugby” and advocates for rugby to follow football's lead in hosting World Cups across multiple countries.
“As our leaders in the Gulf believe, nothing is impossible,” Al Dhalai shared with The Times newspaper. “I foresee this as something that might happen in 2035."
For the bid to succeed, World Rugby would need to approve hosting the tournament across multiple nations, as this would be only the second time the World Cup has been held in Asia, following Japan's successful hosting in 2019.
Additionally, World Rugby would likely need to revise its rules to allow the three Gulf nations, which have not yet participated in a Rugby World Cup, to compete as hosts. The UAE, currently ranked 48th, is the highest-ranked of the three, with Qatar sitting at 87th and Saudi Arabia unranked.
Since the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987, every host nation has also participated in the tournament.
Al Dhalai, who is also vice president of the UAE Rugby Federation, has called on World Rugby to "think outside the box," citing the advanced infrastructure and stadiums already in place across the three Gulf countries. Qatar hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Saudi Arabia will do so in 2034, and the UAE has long been a hub for international sporting events.
“I don’t want to underestimate other bids, and I believe South Africa and other European countries might be interested as well, but if World Rugby worked hard on this with a solid plan, it might happen in 2035," Al Dhalai noted.
“I’m in favour of a multi-city hosting model, not a single host. That’s proven to work in soccer. They’ve done it since 2002 with Japan and Korea, and again with Mexico, USA, and Canada in 2026, and with Spain, Morocco, and Portugal in 2030. Why not rugby?"
“A multi-host could be a successful story and a new model for rugby. UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia. Why not? The stadiums are ready. It will be the most successful event in the history of rugby.”
Australia will host the 2027 Rugby World Cup, which will be expanded to 24 teams for the first time, and will follow with the women’s tournament in 2029. The United States will host both the men's and women's tournaments in 2031 and 2033. The bidding process for the 2035 Rugby World Cup will begin in the next two years.
One further challenge for World Rugby is the extreme heat of the Gulf nations, which may require shifting the World Cup from its usual summer timeframe to the winter months. This would necessitate a significant revision of the rugby calendar, particularly in the northern hemisphere, as the Six Nations would start just a month after the World Cup final if the tournament remained in its traditional February-March window.
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