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≡ FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP ≡
“Today I can confirm as part of the bidding process that we received one bid for 2031 and one valid bid for 2035. The 2031 bid is the United States of America and potentially some other CONCACAF members and the 2035 bid is from Europe and the home nations.
“So the path is there for the Women’s World Cup in 2031 and 2035 to take place in some great nations and further boost the women’s football movement.”
That’s FIFA President Gianni Infantino (SUI), speaking at the UEFA Congress in Belgrade (SRB), announcing the U.S. and “home nations,” meaning Great Britain, including England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as the sole bidders for the 2031 and 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cups.
Bids for both tournaments were due by 31 March and Infantino said that for 2035, only one “valid bid” was received. He did not name any others which were invalid.
The U.S. had previously planned to offer a bid with Mexico for 2027, but abandoned it. Now, some games may be played in other CONCACAF countries as well, perhaps also in the Caribbean.
It will be the third time for the U.S. to host, after the historic 1999 tournament and then 2003 as well. Britain has never hosted the Women’s World Cup, but enthusiasm is high after England finished as runner-up to Spain in the 2023 event. Brazil will host in 2027.
The tournament is growing rapidly, drawing more interest as the number of teams involved has expanded:
● 12 teams: 1991-95
● 16 teams: 1999-2003–07-11
● 24 teams: 2015-19
● 32 teams: 2023-27
● 48 teams: 2031-35 (if approved as expected)
A further expansion for 2031 to as many as 64 teams has also been mentioned, but the expansion to 48 seems more likely at this point.
The Australia-New Zealand Women’s World Cup in 2023 established the all-time record for most spectators at 1,978,274, but the per-match high is still with the 1999 tournament in the U.S., which averaged 37.944. With the expected 48 teams and 104 matches, the U.S.-hosted 2031 tournament will crush all prior records.
The actual award of the 2031 and 2035 Women’s World Cups won’t happen until 2026 and official documents are due at the of April 2025. As with other recent FIFA awards, the selections as announced as expected to sail through.
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