Featured image credit: FIFA
Brazil, and South America, will host the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time after defeating a joint bid from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany for the 2027 tournament.
The announcement was made today (Friday) at the FIFA Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, with the Women’s World Cup host decided for the first time through an open vote. The field for the national team tournament was narrowed to two candidates after the United States and Mexico last month withdrew their joint bid. South Africa also withdrew its candidacy in November, with both now looking to focus on the 2031 tournament.
Today’s vote resulted in a comprehensive victory for Brazil, which was the favourite after FIFA announced its Evaluation Bid Report earlier this month. Brazil’s bid scored 4.0 out of 5.0, compared to the joint European bid’s 3.7. This led to Brazil today gaining 119 votes versus its opponent’s 78.
The 2027 Women’s World Cup will be the 10th iteration of a tournament that has developed substantially since it kicked off in China in 1991. Since the opening tournament, Sweden, the USA, Germany, Canada, France, and Australia/New Zealand have all hosted at least one edition.
In February, Football Australia (FA) stated that its co-hosting of the 2023 Women’s World Cup generated an induced economic impact of A$1.32bn (£695.1m/€810.5m/$879.7m).
An impact evaluation report released by the New Zealand government in December revealed that the World Cup delivered a net economic benefit of NZ$109.5m (£52.9m/€61.7m/$66.9m) for the country, while FIFA president Gianni Infantino hailed Australia and New Zealand’s “transformational” staging as the event drew to a close, adding that the tournament’s revenue generation would allow it to break even.
Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Ednaldo Rodrigues, who headed up the bid, said today: “Today we are experiencing a historic day in Bangkok. This is a victory for women’s football globally. I assure you all that Brazil will host the best Women’s World Cup in history.”
Brazil was initially in the running for the 2023 Women’s World Cup and has previously held the men’s tournament in 1950 and 2014. Stadia developed for the latter will be leaned upon for the Women’s World Cup, with only the Arena das Dunas, in Natal, and the Arena da Baixada, in Curitiba, excluded from the 12 venues used in 2014.
The CBF has proposed that the Women’s World Cup be held in 10 cities, but has outlined that capacities will be reduced for the tournament, albeit with the flexibility to adapt this according to demand for tickets. In the bid book, the host cities/stadiums, along with their full capacity and proposed adapted capacity are as follows:
- Belo Horizonte, Estádio Mineirão (66,658/25,700)
- Brasília, Estádio Mané Garrincha (69,910/40,883)
- Cuiabá, Arena Pantanal (42,788/23,800)
- Fortaleza, Arena Castelão (57,876/22,505)
- Manaus, Arena da Amazônia (42,924/24,508)
- Porto Alegre, Estádio Beira-Rio (49,055/25,830)
- Recife, Arena de Pernambuco (45,440,20,602)
- Rio de Janeiro, Estádio do Maracanã (73,139/66,167)
- Salvador, Arena Fonte Nova (47,915/36,260)
- São Paulo, Arena Corinthians (47,252/42,707)
Rodrigues added: “This FIFA decision will have a major positive impact on Brazilian women’s football and on the lives of millions of women in Brazil. In addition to investing in the World Cup, the entire women’s football production chain in Brazil and South America will take an immense leap in development.”
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