Logo of FIFAMap of FIFA Women's World Cup final hosts, 1991–2019.
Eight countries have been chosen FIFA Women's World Cup hosts in the competition's nine editions from the inaugural tournament in 1991 until the tournament played in 2023.
The decision to hold the first tournament in China was made by FIFA, football's international governing body, after China hosted a prototype world championship three years earlier, the 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament. The first Women's World Cup was sponsored by Mars, Incorporated. With FIFA still reluctant to bestow their "World Cup" brand, the tournament was officially known as the 1st FIFA World Championship for Women's Football for the M&M's Cup.[1][2]
Only China and the United States have hosted the event on more than one occasion. The 2003 edition was originally awarded to China, but was moved to the United States in May 2003 due to the SARS outbreak. China were instead awarded the right to host the following edition in 2007.[3]
FIFA selected China to host the inaugural FIFA Women's World Cup as Guangdong had hosted a prototype world championship three years earlier, the 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament.
Bulgaria was selected to host the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Result:
Bulgaria
However, Bulgaria had to relinquish their hosting rights by FIFA due to practical reasons.
FIFA approached Euro 1992 hosts Sweden at short notice to organise the event.
Sweden
FIFA later decided to move the tournament to Sweden. As a result, Sweden became the first nation to hold both the men's and women's World Cups, having hosted the 1958 FIFA World Cup
The United States Soccer Federation announced their intention to bid for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup in February 1995, shortly after hosting the successful 1994 FIFA World Cup. Australia and Chile both announced their intention to bid but withdrew from the process in December 1995. This left the United States as the sole applicant by the March 1996 deadline for bids. The FIFA Executive Committee officially awarded hosting rights to the United States on May 31, 1996, the same day that the 2002 FIFA World Cup was jointly awarded to Japan and South Korea.
The Australia Soccer Federation began bidding for the tournament in 1998 and was solely unopposed by the time of the bidding deadline. However, FIFA President at the time, Sepp Blatter, expressed his intentions of bringing the tournament back to China, which hosted the inaugural tournament in 1991. Little interest was shown by the Chinese Football Association however FIFA awarded the hosting rights to China.
Result:
China
Australia
Several sporting events in China were canceled or postponed in early April due to the outbreak of SARS in southern China, and FIFA launched a joint investigation with the World Health Organization into whether the outbreak would subside by the time of the tournament. On May 3, 2003, FIFA announced that they would move the tournament to an alternate host country, which would be determined at a later date.
Bids:
Sweden
United States
The United States and Australia had expressed interest in hosting, while Brazil was floated as another potential host. On May 26, 2003, the United States was announced as the tournament's new host, ahead of the other formal bid submitted by Sweden. The United States was judged to be a suitable emergency host because of their experience with organizing the 1999 tournament.
China was subsequently awarded the hosting rights to the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup by FIFA, as well as $1 million to the organizing committee to compensate for planning expenses.
Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but the outbreak of SARS in that country forced that event to be moved to the United States. FIFA immediately granted the 2007 event to China, which meant that no new host nation was chosen competitively until the following tournament in 2011.
Six nations, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Peru and Switzerland, initially declared their interest in hosting the 2011 Women's World Cup. The German Football Association announced its hopes to host the tournament on 26 January 2006, following a pledge from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to fully support a potential bid. All six nations officially announced their interest by a 1 March 2007 deadline and acknowledged their intention of bidding by 3 May 2007 to FIFA.
Switzerland withdrew on 29 May 2007, stating that Europe is heavily focused on France and Germany, and a third European bid appeared futile. On 27 August 2007, France also withdrew, reportedly in exchange for Germany's support for their bid to host the men's UEFA Euro 2016. Later Australia and Peru voluntarily dropped out of the race as well, leaving only Canada and Germany as the remaining candidates. On 30 October 2007, the FIFA Executive Committee voted to assign the tournament to Germany. Canada was eventually awarded the 2015 Women's World Cup four years later.
Upon the selection, Germany became the third country to host both men's and women's World Cup, having hosted the men's twice in 1974 and 2006.
Two bids were submitted from the Canadian Soccer Association and Zimbabwe Football Association in December 2010. Zimbabwe withdrew its bid on 1 March 2011. The country was seen as a long shot as its women's team was ranked 103rd in the world at the time of the bid and has never qualified for a Women's World Cup. There was also ongoing political and economic instability in the country. Canada were subsequently awarded the hosting rights for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup as the sole bidder.
Initially, five countries indicated interest in hosting the events: France, England, South Korea, New Zealand and South Africa. Both England and New Zealand registered expressions of interest by the April 2014 deadline, but in June 2014 it was announced that each would no longer proceed. South Africa registered an expression of interest by the April 2014 deadline; but later decided to withdraw prior to the final October deadline. Both Japan and Sweden had also expressed interest in bidding for the 2019 tournament, but Japan chose to focus on the 2019 Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Summer Olympics, whilst Sweden decided to focus on European U-17 competitions instead. France and South Korea made official bids for hosting the tournament by submitting their documents by 31 October 2014.
On 19 March 2015, France officially won the bid to host the Women's World Cup along with the U-20 Women's World Cup. The decision came after a vote by the FIFA Executive Committee. Upon the selection, France became the third European nation to host the Women's World Cup (following Sweden and Germany), and the fourth country to host both the men's and women's World Cup, having hosted the men's tournament in 1938 and 1998.
Nine countries initially indicated interest in hosting the events: Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Japan, South Korea (with interest in a joint bid with North Korea), New Zealand and South Africa. Belgium expressed interest in hosting the tournament following the new deadline but later dropped out, as did Bolivia, in September 2019. Australia and New Zealand later announced they would merge their bids in a joint submission. Brazil, Colombia, and Japan joined them in submitting their bid books to FIFA by 13 December. However, both Brazil and Japan later withdrew their bids in June 2020 before the final voting.
On 25 June 2020, Australia and New Zealand won the bid to host the Women's World Cup. The decision came after a vote by the FIFA Council, with the winning bid earning 22 votes, while Colombia earned 13. Neither country had previously hosted a senior FIFA tournament.
The bidding process for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup began on 23 March 2023, with the host appointment scheduled for the FIFA Congress on 27 May 2024. This marks the first time in Women's World Cup history that the appointment of host will be decided by the FIFA Congress. Four bids were submitted by the second deadline on 19 May 2023. Three bids from Chile, Italy and a joint bid between the Nordic nations (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) expressed interest but later withdrew before the deadline.
The football associations of Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands announced their intention to jointly bid for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup. Belgium and the Netherlands jointly hosted the UEFA European Championship in 2000, with Belgium having previously hosted in 1972. Germany hosted the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2011 and the UEFA European Women's Championship in 2001. Germany also hosted the FIFA Men's World Cup in 1974 and 2006, the men's Euro in 1988, and will do so again in 2024. Germany and the Netherlands co-hosted several matches in the multi-national UEFA Euro 2020. The Netherlands hosted the Women's Euro in 2017.
The South African Football Association previously submitted a bid for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, but withdrew its bid in December 2019. SAFA CEO Hay Mokoena stated that South Africa would consider bidding for 2027 after the women's league and national team become more competitive. South Africa has hosted the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup and could use the infrastructure that was built for the tournament. In September 2022, South Africa announced its bid to host the 2027 women's edition. They later withdrew in November 2023 and decided to focus on bidding for 2031 tournament instead.
The Brazilian Football Confederation expressed interest in participating in the election for the 2027 World Cup. The country was one of the finalists for the 2023 edition, but had to withdraw due to the lack of support from the federal government, in addition to the financial crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. On 2 March 2023, CBF President Ednaldo Rodrigues sent a letter to FIFA, confirming the country's intention to compete in the 2027 World Cup. On 7 March the Brazilian Minister of Sports, Ana Moser, confirmed the country's bid to host the tournament.
Former U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro expressed an interest in the U.S. hosting the tournament, stating "I believe we can and should host the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2027." The United States has previously hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup and this tournament twice in a row in 1999 and 2003. It was reported on 6 August 2021 that U.S. Soccer was considering a bid for the 2031 Women's World Cup as an alternative before reinstating its plan for 2027 on 17 June 2022. On 21 June 2022, the president of the Mexican Football Federation, Yon de Luisa, announced interests in hosting the 2027 edition and would seek to make a bid for it. A joint bid between the United States and Mexico was announced on 19 April 2023 prior to a friendly match between the men's teams. On 29 April 2024, the U.S. and Mexico announced that they would withdraw their bid for the 2027 edition, instead focusing on bidding to host in 2031. For the first time in the tournament's history, voting took place during the FIFA Congress. The voting took place on May 17, 2024, during the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok, and it was opened to 207 out of the 211 members. Brazil won the vote with 119 votes in their favor compared to the 78 votes for Belgium–Germany–Netherlands.
The bidding process for the Women's World Cup is yet to begin. Some early bids for the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup however have been proposed. The 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.[4][5] China was the first to express interest in hosting the event. In October 2022, the Chinese Football Association and the nation's sports ministry announced a new women's football program that would include a bid to host the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup.[6] China previously hosted the 1991 tournament and the 2007 tournament after the 2003 tournament had to be relocated to the United States due to the SARS outbreak.
The third bid is from Japan. On 5 August 2024, the newly elected president of the Japan Football AssociationTsuneyasu Miyamoto expressed the country's interest of hosting the tournament.[8]
Saudi Arabia was the first bid to announce their interest in hosting the 2035 FIFA Women's World Cup following their successful 2034 FIFA World Cup bid and the launch of the Saudi Women's Premier League.
Total bids by country
Women's World Cup-winning bids are bolded. Withdrawn bids are italicized. Rejected bids, as well as planned but not-yet-official bids for 2031 and beyond, are not included.
1 2 China was originally set to host, but the tournament was relocated to the United States due to the SARS outbreak. China was awarded the 2007 tournament as compensation.
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