Former Minister Says FIFA President Endorsed Zimbabwe’s Bid For 2034 World Cup Alongside SA, Botswana
Former Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi says then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter endorsed Zimbabwe’s ambitious plan to pursue the 2034 FIFA World Cup alongside South Africa and Botswana.
Mzembi said the Zimbabwe-led proposal was intended to use football’s biggest tournament to promote Brand Zimbabwe and drive infrastructure investment through 24 years of preparation.
Walter Mzembi Says FIFA Backed Zimbabwe’s 2034 World Cup Dream
Writing on X on 7 July 2026, Mzembi said the trilateral plan would have split matches between the three Southern African countries.
According to Walter Mzembi’s X account, South Africa was expected to stage half of the matches because of its infrastructure and 2010 World Cup experience.
Mzembi said:
“At some point we put forward a Zimbabwe bid to host WC2034, many laughed in disbelief but it was a Zimbabwe led trilateral bid incorporating South Africa and Botswana.”
He added:
“50% of the matches were going to RSA because of infrastructure and experience, 30% of the games to Zimbabwe including opening and closing matches, the rest to Botswana.”
Mzembi said the project was primarily a national branding and investment initiative.
“We were not in it to win the games but to prop up Brand Zimbabwe, drive infrastructure investment with 24 years of preparations from 2010 when Sepp Blatter and FIFA endorsed our Bid!” he said.
Mzembi publicly spoke about his World Cup ambitions in July 2014. At the time, he said Blatter had encouraged Zimbabwe to continue thinking big about hosting the tournament.
Zimbabweans Question Stadiums And World Cup Infrastructure
Mzembi’s comments drew sharply divided reactions from Zimbabweans on X. Several users focused on the country’s stadium infrastructure.
The donXx wrote:
“Then some 16 years after your initial bid the same Zimbabwe does not have a single CAF approved stadium.”
Tanganda also questioned Mzembi’s explanation for the plan’s failure.
“Nice analysis but fall short of the truth on the last ‘lack of self esteem’, not true but that Zimbabwe has no world class stadiums for such tournaments till today,” the user wrote.
Simon of Cyrene said:
“Its such a tall order for Zim to host the world cup. Still a long way to go.”
Taffy Kuziva was equally sceptical, writing:
“Zimbabwe doesnt have even a single stadium, sit down please.”
Steel Simbi T questioned whether hosting a World Cup should have been a priority.
“No Walter. It was a pipe dream. No running clean water, no medicines in hospitals, civil servants underpaid etc lets be realistic,” the user wrote.
Teflon Don added:
“Host a world cup when Hospitals had no paracetamol ah mdara iwe (my elder/man).”
Zimbabweans Split Over Walter Mzembi’s World Cup Vision
Not all reactions dismissed the idea. Wilfred Kadadiey Cyclone Eloiey argued that the long preparation period could have changed Zimbabwe’s fortunes.
“This could have been a game changer for Zimbabwe there was plenty of time to plan,” the user wrote.
Gumbo Gumbo offered a brief response:
“It takes vision.”
Another user, Uncle vemibhadha, appeared to support Mzembi’s branding argument.
“For the brand, the confidence ndaibata point (I understood the point),” the user wrote.
However, Maurice Marima Mpofu rejected Mzembi’s suggestion that low self-esteem had contributed to the plan’s collapse.
“Musanyebera low self esteem huwori hwenyu and the failure on delivering on promises ndozvinoita kuti zvinhu zvisafamba munyika (Do not blame low self-esteem. Your corruption and failure to deliver on promises are what cause things not to work in the country),” he wrote.
Mzembi maintained that the proposal was derailed by a lack of belief and common purpose.
“What killed it was our own low self esteem, disbelief and lack of unity of purpose,” he said.
The post Walter Mzembi Says Sepp Blatter Endorsed Zimbabwe’s 2034 World Cup Bid Alongside SA & Botswana appeared first on iHarare News.
