Cambodia's Football Federation has expressed aspirations for the nation to qualify as competitors for the 2038 FIFA World Cup, while historically proposing that ASEAN collectively bid to host the tournament, despite current FIFA rotation regulations that may restrict such possibilities.
Football Federation of Cambodia vice-president Khiev Sameth announced the shared goal of helping Cambodia qualify for the FIFA World Cup tournament within fourteen years, requiring cultivation of strong grassroots players and making the league more professional to compete at higher levels.
Former Prime Minister Hun Sen previously suggested in June 2022 that ASEAN should consider bidding to host the 2034 or 2038 World Cup to strengthen economic, cultural, educational and sports cooperation among member countries, though he acknowledged this would require agreement from all ASEAN leaders.
According to FIFA's confederation exclusion rules established after awarding the 2030 and 2034 tournaments, only North America (CONCACAF) and Oceania (OFC) confederations are eligible to bid for 2038, as Asia, Europe, Africa and South America are excluded due to recent hosting commitments.
Cambodia currently ranks 179th globally in FIFA's international ranking system with 931.47 points, placing eighth within ASEAN far behind regional leaders Thailand and Viet Nam, making the 2038 World Cup qualification goal extremely ambitious for the nation's football development.
