Women's World Cup
By Meg Linehan, Steph Yang and Jeff Rueter
U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) have withdrawn from the 2027 World Cup bidding process on Monday, only weeks before the public vote scheduled on May 17 at the FIFA Congress in Thailand. Instead, the two North American federations will bid on the 2031 edition of the tournament.
Advertisement
A statement released by U.S. Soccer said that by withdrawing the 2027 bid and focusing on 2031, it will allow the federations to fully take advantage of what they learn from the 2026 men’s edition and provide greater support for host cities — many of which could host both men’s and women’s matches.
U.S. Soccer also said that by pushing back the bid, it could more fully focus on ensuring that a Women’s World Cup hosted by the two federations would have equal investment to the men’s. With the proposed timeline of a jointly hosted 2026 men’s tournament amongst the U.S., Mexico and Canada, followed by the proposed women’s edition, then the 2028 Olympics, as well as the U.S.’s other hosting obligations for other smaller tournaments, 2027 appears to have proved too much for the timeline.
On the 2031 front, the U.S. and Mexico could face some strong competition in that bidding process as well. While bids won’t be due for a while, Football Association chairwoman Debbie Hewitt previously said that England is considering launching a bid for 2031.
This leaves only two remaining bids for the voters to choose from: one from Brazil, and a joint bid from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. While the European joint bid may be a strong bid, Brazil is the heavy favorite to host at this point. The country hosted a men’s World Cup relatively recently in 2014, and considering the growing investment in South America, it may prove to be a smart long-term play for FIFA to use the boost of a major tournament to firmly cement the women’s game in the region.
The joint European bid would probably look to the success of the 2019 World Cup in France as a strong foundation from which to build. At the same time, that World Cup could weigh against them, as FIFA may not want to put on another World Cup in a UEFA region so soon. The women’s game in particular would benefit from the World Cup being spread around the confederations as much as possible.
Advertisement
The joint European bid book details plans to leverage a “home” World Cup into specific growth goals for each country; Belgium is aiming for a 10 percent increase in female players every year until 2027, while the Netherlands is aiming for 15 percent and Germany is aiming for 25 percent, including referees and coaches.
Meanwhile, Brazil — the remaining bid from the Americas — now projects to be a strong favorite for hosting this tournament in the wake of the North American bid’s delay. Brazil has an extensive history of hosting major sporting events over the past decade-plus, serving as the site for the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games as well as the 2014 World Cup and the 2019 and 2021 Copa Américas on the men’s side. The bid book’s title, “As Natural As Football,” hoped to stress the nation’s synonymity with the sport.
That bid book specifies ten cities that would host games in a 2027 Women’s World Cup, with 10 of the earmarked 13 venues having previously been used for the 2014 World Cup. The stadiums have capacities ranging from 40,549 in Manaus to the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, which holds up to 73,139 fans. Eight of the 10 potential host cities are in the Eastern half of the country closest to the Atlantic Ocean, including six directly on the coast. — Steph Yang and Jeff Rueter, staff soccer writers
U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone said that having additional time to prepare would allow for greater global impact: “I’m proud of our commitment to provide equitable experiences for the players, fans and all our stakeholders. Shifting our bid will enable us to host a record-breaking Women’s World Cup in 2031 that will help to grow and raise the level of the women’s game both here at home as well as across the globe.”
“We are fully committed to organizing a memorable and historic Women’s World Cup that the players and fans will benefit from. After careful analysis we feel that moving our bid back to 2031 will allow us to promote and build up to the most successful Women’s World Cup ever. The strength and universality of our professional women’s leagues, coupled with our experience from organizing the 2026 World Cup, means that we will be able to provide the best infrastructure as well as an enthusiastic fan base that will make all the participating teams feel at home and to put together a World Cup that will contribute to the continued growth of women’s football,” said Ivar Sisniega, FMF president.
(Photo: Ed Zurga / Getty Images for USSF)
Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.
