FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, announced yesterday (April 24) that four expressions of interest have been received from prospective host nations for the flagship 2027 Women’s World Cup.
The Brazilian Football Association (CBF) and the South African Football Association (SAFA) have made individual expressions of interest in hosting the event, while the other two are joint bids.
The US Soccer Federation (US Soccer) has teamed up with the Mexican Football Federation (MFF) to co-host the event, while a joint-European bid has been put forward by the Royal Belgium Association (RBFA), the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), and the German Football Association (DFB).
Moving forward, FIFA will send a bidding agreement to the interested parties, and the member associations will have until May 19 to return and confirm their interest.
FIFA secretary Fatma Samoura said: “We are thrilled by the expressions of interest received, not least because they come from member associations with a strong football tradition representing four confederations, thus confirming the consistent popularity of women’s football across the world.
“All member associations can rely on the most robust and comprehensive bidding process in the history of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.”
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By GlobalDataFIFA announced the launch of its bidding process to find a host or hosts for the tournament last month (March 23), with member nations given a deadline of April 19 to submit their expressions of interest.
The host or hosts will be announced at the FIFA Congress through public voting on May 17, 2024.
Brazil has never hosted the Women’s World Cup but has staged the men’s event twice, in 1950 and 2014. South Africa, which missed out after bidding for the upcoming 2023 Women’s World Cup, is seeking to bring the event to Africa for the first time. It hosted the men's tournament in 2010.
The US has hosted the Women’s World Cup twice before, in 1999 and 2003, while bidding partner Mexico has never staged the tournament.
If successful, the tournament will be held one year after the men’s 2026 World Cup, which is being co-hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico. The 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games are also taking place in the US.
In the European bid, meanwhile, Germany hosted the Women’s World Cup in 2011, while the Netherlands staged the UEFA Euro in 2019. Belgium has never hosted a major women’s tournament. If that bid is successful, it will be the first time that a Women’s World Cup will be staged across three countries.
The 2015 Women’s World Cup was hosted by Canada, while the last edition of the tournament in 2019 was staged in France.
Australia and New Zealand are finalizing their preparations to co-host the 2023 edition of the tournament, which kicks off on July 20. This year’s tournament will be the first comprising 32 teams after expanding from the 24 that contested the 2019 edition.
It is also the first edition to be staged with multiple hosts and the first in the Southern Hemisphere.