The 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup is scheduled to be the 11th edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's football championship contested by the national teams that represent the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will involve 32 national teams, including that of the host nation to be decided in 2025.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 32 (from 6 confederations) |
← 2027 2035 → | |
Host selection
editThe host nation for the 2031 Women's World Cup is scheduled to be decided by the FIFA Congress in the second quarter of 2025, a year after the host selection for the 2027 edition, with bid regulations for approval in the second quarter of 2024.[1][2]
Interested bids
editAFC
edit
In October 2022, the General Administration of Sport of China and the Chinese Football Association announced a new women's football program that would include a bid to host the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup.[3] In 2024, the two SARs of Hong Kong and Macau have also expressed interest in joining the Chinese bid even though they currently have separate FAs (HKFA and AFM).[4][5] The country previously hosted the inaugural tournament in 1991 and they won the rights to host the 2003 edition, but it was instead hosted by the United States due to the SARS epidemic. The 2007 edition was automatically awarded to China by FIFA as compensation.[6] Other FIFA and AFC tournaments that China has hosted include the 1985 U-17 World Cup, 1997 AFC Women's Championship, 2004 AFC Asian Cup, 2004 AFC U-19 Women's Championship, 2007 AFC U-19 Women's Championship, 2009 AFC U-19 Women's Championship, 2010 AFC U-19 Championship, 2011 AFC U-16 Women's Championship, 2015 AFC U-16 Women's Championship, 2015 AFC U-19 Women's Championship, 2017 AFC U-19 Women's Championship, and 2018 AFC U-23 Championship.
On 5 August 2024, the newly elected president of the Japan Football Association Tsuneyasu Miyamoto expressed the country's interest of hosting the tournament.[7] Japan previously co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and other FIFA and AFC tournaments Japan has hosted include the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship, 1991 AFC Women's Championship, 1992 AFC Asian Cup, 1993 FIFA U-17 World Championship, 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup, 2004 AFC U-17 Championship, 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the men's and women's tournament at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and eight editions of the FIFA Club World Cup.
CAF
edit
In October 2023, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation president Fouzi Lekjaa declared an interest to bid for hosting the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup,[8] following Morocco's selection of hosting 2030 FIFA World Cup[9] and the debut performance of women's team on the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. This would be Morocco's first time ever of hosting FIFA female tournament. Morocco previously hosted the 1988 African Cup of Nations and they won the rights to host the 2015 edition, but it was rewarded to Equatorial Guinea due to Ebola epidemic.[10] Morocco also hosted the 2018 African Nations Championship, the 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations, the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations and many tournaments under the UNAF banner and is about to host the 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations and the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. The only FIFA tournaments that Morocco hosted was the 2013, the 2014 and the 2022 editions of FIFA Club World Cup, and they will host the next five FIFA U-17 Women's World Cups from 2025 to 2029.
On 24 November 2023, the South Africa Football Association announced the withdrawal of its bid for the 2027 edition in favor of a 2031 bid.[11] South Africa has previously hosted the 1996 AFCON, 2000 WAFCON, 2004 WAFCON, 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, 2010 WAFCON, 2010 FIFA World Cup, 2011 U-20 AFCON, 2013 AFCON, and the 2014 CHAN.
CONCACAF
edit
Mexico and 
United States
On 29 April 2024, the United States Soccer Federation and Mexican Football Federation jointly announced that they would withdraw their bid for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup and instead bid for the 2031 edition. The United States previously hosted the 1999 edition and 2003 edition, while Mexico has never hosted a Women's World Cup.[12] Both countries are co-hosts of the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside Canada; media outlets speculated that the close proximity of the two events along with the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles may have been a factor in the changed bid plan.[13] Other FIFA and confederation events the two countries have hosted are the 1970 World Cup, 1983 World Youth Championship, 1986 World Cup, 1999 Confederations Cup, and 2011 U-17 World Cup for Mexico and the 1994 World Cup, Copa América Centenario, 2024 Copa América, and 2025 FIFA Club World Cup for the United States. In addition, both countries have hosted the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
UEFA
edit
England or 
United Kingdom and 
Ireland
In May 2023, The Football Association announced their intention to bid following the success of their women's team at the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 and the large attendance at Wembley Stadium for the 2022 Women's FA Cup final. This would be England's first time hosting the women's tournament, though they have significant hosting experience including the 1963 UEFA U-18, 1966 FIFA World Cup, 1983 UEFA U-18, 1993 UEFA U-18, UEFA Euro 1996, 2001 UEFA U-16, 2018 UEFA U-17, and several matches of UEFA Euro 2020.[14] A bid alongside Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland similar to their successful UEFA Euro 2028 bid has also been noted.
In May 2023, former mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau proposed a bid for Barcelona to host the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup.[15] Following the victory in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labor Yolanda Díaz proposed a World Cup bid to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.[16] Spain's previous FIFA Tournament hosting experience includes the 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 1964 Euro, the 1957, the 1972, 1994 UEFA U-18 Cups, the 1996 UEFA U-21 Cup, the 1988 UEFA U-16 Cup and the upcoming 2030 FIFA World Cup.
Marketing
editBroadcasting
editReferences
edit- ^ "FIFA Council endorsed international match calendar principles and competitions". FIFA+. FIFA. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
- ^ "FIFA Council highlights record breaking revenue in football". FIFA. 14 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
- ^ Xie, Echo (24 October 2022). "China to bid for 2031 Fifa Women's World Cup in push for top-ranking team". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
- ^ "HK could host 2031 Women's World Cup matches: [Kenneth] Fok". rthk.hk. 6 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- ^ "GBA cities could bid to co-host 2031 FIFA Women's tournament". Macau Daily Times. 8 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- ^ Longman, Jere (5 May 2003). "U.S. Is Eager To Step In As Host Of World Cup". The New York Times. p. D1. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
- ^ "FIFA President hosts new Japan Football Association President Miyamoto in Paris". FIFA. 5 August 2024.
- ^ "Morocco Targets Hosting Of 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup". Basic Sports in Nigeria. 28 October 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "World Cup 2030: Morocco Announces Submitting Letter of Intentions to FIFA". Morocco World News. 30 October 2023.
- ^ "2015 Nations Cup: Equatorial Guinea to host tournament". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ "SA withdraws from bidding for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup, turns attention to 2031 event" (Press release). South Africa Football Association. 24 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
- ^ Kassouf, Jeff (29 April 2024). "U.S., Mexico withdraw 2027 Women's World Cup bid, look to 2031". ESPN. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
- ^ Linehan, Meg; Yang, Steph; Reuter, Jeff (29 April 2024). "U.S./Mexico withdraw 2027 Women's World Cup bid, will instead pursue joint bid for 2031". The Athletic. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
- ^ Hay, Anthony (24 May 2023). "England consider launching bid to host 2031 Women's World Cup". The Athletic.
- ^ "Colau propone que Barcelona acoja el mundial de fútbol femenino en 2031". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 19 May 2023.
- ^ Yolanda Díaz [@yolanda_diaz] (20 August 2023). "España es referente del mejor futbol femenino, es el momento de aspirar a acoger el mundial del 2031" (Tweet) (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 August 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ "FIFA and Netflix sign historic broadcast deal for 2027 and 2031 editions of FIFA Women's World Cup™". FIFA. 20 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.