Women's World Cup
Brazil’s bid to stage the 2027 Women’s World Cup has been rated higher than the rival joint-bid from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany (BNG) in a new FIFA report evaluating the options.
Football’s world governing body delivered the assessment as part of a World Cup bid evaluation report published on Tuesday.
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Brazil scored higher on a number of key technical scores, including stadiums, accommodation, fan zones and transport infrastructure.
A summary from the report said: “The Brazilian Football Association and the Brazilian government have shown support for the bid and a commitment to hosting the event, which is particularly important given that certain investments in infrastructure and services would be required to ensure the success of the tournament.
“Lastly, with respect to hosting opportunities, it is worth noting that, if the bid were successful, South America would be hosting the competition for the first time, which could have a tremendous impact on women’s football in the region.”
Each component — given a different weighting depending on how important they are for a tournament host — is scored on a scale of 0 to 5 where 0 represents “does not meet the requirements” and 5 represents “very good”.
The BNG bid was given an overall score of 3.7 in the evaluation, while Brazil scored 4.0.
BNG — who are proposing the play the tournament across 13 stadiums in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany with the final at Borussia Dortmund’s ground — were scored 3.4 for venue criteria.
The report said: “The BNG 2027 bid proposes a compact tournament footprint with very good general infrastructure, including excellent connectivity and short distances between the proposed venues – all of which would be viewed in a positive light by the tournament stakeholders.”
Brazil, meanwhile, were given 3.7 for their plan to use 10 stadiums with the final to be staged at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
BNG also scored higher on team and referee facilities and international broadcast centre facilities, while Brazil were favoured for accommodation and fan festival sites.
The report also confirmed that both bids had met the minimum requirements for World Cup host nations.
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A FIFA statement accompanying the release of the report said: “The Bid Evaluation Report reflects the comprehensive evaluation model that has become a hallmark of FIFA’s enhanced bidding processes for men’s and women’s flagship events, which incorporates a variety of criteria, ranging from event vision and key metrics, infrastructure, services, commercial aspects, and sustainability and human rights.”
The host will be decided in a vote by member nations at the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok on 17 May.
Brazil are hoping to become the first South American country to host the women’s edition of the tournament.
Last month, the United States and Mexico withdrew their joint bid to host the tournament to focus on a bid for 2031.
Spain are the current holders having beaten England in the final to last year’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
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Why U.S./Mexico pivoted from 2027 women’s World Cup to ‘record-breaking’ bid for 2031
(Zhu Wei/Xinhua via Getty Images)
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Callum Davis is a deputy news editor for The Athletic, based in London. Prior to joining, he was senior editor at TNT Sports, having previously worked at The Telegraph. Follow Callum on Twitter @Callum_davis89
