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FIFA on Friday elected Brazil to host its 2027 edition of the Women’s World Cup, easily defeating a rival joint bid among Belgium, Netherlands and Germany (BNG) by a vote of 119-78. The decision made at the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok, Thailand followed a rigorous bid process and for the first time, an open ballot.
Brazil had been a slight favorite after the release of an evaluation report last week that scored the eventual winner an average of 4 out of 5 while BNG trailed with 3.7. Both bids were then deemed qualified to run for election in what FIFA described as “the most comprehensive FIFA Women’s World Cup bidding process ever.”
Read the Brazil 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup bid book
“Uma Escolha Natural” (A Natural Choice) is Brazil’s bid slogan, and organizers hope the event will “become a springboard and an inspiration for girls and women across the world who are considering a career in football both on and off the pitch,” according to bid documents.
The proposed dates for the event are from June 24 to July 25.
Among the strong features of Brazil’s bid is the quality of the purpose built stadiums that remain a legacy of the 2014 World Cup. Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro will host the opening and and closing matches, the same stadium that staged the men’s final in 2014.
Other matches will be staged in Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Cuiabá, Fortaleza, Manaus, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and São Paulo.
The BNG bid proposed 13 stadiums near the shared national borders to provide a more compact footprint than Brazil’s, but the project was criticized for not using the best available facilities in each nation, resulting in some proposed venues with smaller capacities.
The moment Brazil were appointed @FIFAWWC 2027 hosts! 🤩
Congratulations, @CBF_Futebol 👏 pic.twitter.com/3niPfbNLWq
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) May 17, 2024
With the short timeframe to deliver the event – only 36 months compared to 10 years ahead of the men’s 2034 tournament that is expected to be awarded to Saudi Arabia later this year – South Africa’s experience and legacy from 2014 was considered a key decision point by voting nations.
Only two bids remained in the race to host the 10th edition of the tournament after a joint bid from United States and Mexico dropped out of the race last month to instead focus on a campaign for 2031, and South Africa withdrew its project last year.
The 2023 tournament was co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, and previous matches have been staged in Sweden, United States, Germany, Canada and France since the inaugural Women’s World Cup in China in 1991.
Since FIFA prefers to rotate tournaments among continents, BNG’s defeat leaves the door open for a proposed England and Spain joint bid to host in 2031. It could join the former U.S-Mexico and South African 2027 bids, and other mooted proposals by Morocco and China.
A senior producer and award-winning journalist covering Olympic bid business as founder of GamesBids.com as well as providing freelance support for print and Web publications around the world. Robert Livingstone is a member of the Olympic Journalists Association and the International Society of Olympic Historians.
