Fifa kicks off race to host next football Women’s World Cup

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Spain are still celebrating their triumph in the Women’s World Cup final against England, but the competition to host the next edition of the tournament is already heating up.

Formal bids are due in December and Fifa expects to name the host of the 2027 tournament in May next year, with four expressions of interest already submitted, football’s governing body has said.

Much is riding on the selection of the next host as Fifa tries to build on the momentum of a tournament that broke broadcast and attendance records in another milestone for women’s football.

Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany have teamed up to express their interest in hosting the next Women’s World Cup. The US and Mexico, two of the co-hosts of the 2026 men’s World Cup, jointly contacted Fifa. Brazil, which hosted the men’s tournament as recently as 2014, is another contender, as is South Africa, host of the 2010 men’s event.

“It should boil down to where they can grant the biggest access to the biggest sporting event in the world,” said Maya Herm, senior manager for customer success and strategy at sponsorship analytics provider Relo Metrics.

Held in Australia and New Zealand, this year’s tournament generated $570mn in revenue, allowing it to cover its costs, according to Fifa. The worldwide broadcast audience was around 2bn, according to Fifa president Gianni Infantino, while more than 1.7mn tickets were sold to matchgoing fans.

Ebru Köksal, chair of the Women in Football network, said Fifa should aim to generate “more revenue and make a profit” at the 2027 tournament. However, Fifa is playing catch-up with the men’s 2026 World Cup, which it awarded to Canada, Mexico and the US in June 2018.

“They haven’t been as far sighted in terms of getting host cities,” said Mark Oliver, chair of sports media consultancy Oliver & Ohlbaum. “They want to go now on a high because obviously it has worked well despite the timezone [differences].”

The 2023 tournament was hamstrung by the failure to agree media rights deals in key European markets — including the UK and Spain — until a few weeks before matches got under way in July, putting sponsors in a “difficult situation”, Köksal said.

Infantino had complained of low offers but broadcasters said timezone differences were the main factor, with all matches taking place in European morning hours. Köksal said some broadcasters had made bids that were “unacceptable”.

But she added: “Stats from this World Cup, with all the alleged disadvantages of the time zones, proved once again that the growth of women’s football is exponential and unstoppable.”

Infantino has urged broadcasters, sponsors and other partners “to pay a fair price for women’s football”, not simply to generate bigger revenues for Fifa but to support further professionalisation and investment in the game.

However, he also drew criticism after offering advice to women on the “battle” for equality in football and saying they had the “power to convince us men what we have to do”. Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales was also criticised for kissing striker Jenni Hermoso on the lips without her consent during the celebrations.

Fifa opened invitations in Australia to tender for the media rights to the 2027 tournament earlier this month, though it is yet to confirm a host.

India Thomson, women’s sport director at sports agency WeAreFearless, said Fifa needed to encourage broadcasters to help tell the stories of the players, target younger audiences and women who are casual fans or “not fans of football but who are advocates for change in regards to the role of women in society”.

“There are so many women who have watched this World Cup because they have read these women’s stories and they feel invested in them,” Thomson said. “This is an opportunity to engage an audience that can transcend football.”