Soccer Federations from the United States and Mexico have joined together on a bid to host the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, it was announced Wednesday.
Coming just under FIFA’s Friday bid deadline, the project is surprising mainly because the event will follow one year after both United States and Mexico, along with Canada, will stage the men’s edition of the FIFA World Cup in the new expanded 48 nation format.
The United States have hosted the quadrennial tournament twice, in 1999 and 2003. If successful, this will be the first time Mexico will welcome matches.
“The United States has always been a global leader for the women’s game, and we would be honored to co-host the world’s premier event for women’s soccer along with Mexico,” U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone said in a statement.
“Hosting the 2027 Women’s World Cup provides us an incredible opportunity to cap off two historic years of World Cup soccer in the CONCACAF region, helping us continue to grow the game among our confederation associations. A record six teams from CONCACAF will play in the Women’s World Cup this summer, and the United States and Mexico want to continue to push the envelope for the development of women’s soccer across the entire region.”
Team USA has won the World Cup four times, including consecutive titles in 2015 and 2019 that will be defended this year in Australia and New Zealand.
Together for 2027. 🇺🇸🇲🇽
The United States and Mexico will bid to host @FIFAWWC 2027 🏆 pic.twitter.com/t93UzXqb1L
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) April 20, 2023
Mexican football federation president Yon de Luisa said “Women’s football in Mexico has experienced sustained growth over the last five years and its development, both on and off the field, coupled with the female empowerment it has achieved and will continue to achieve, is one of the strategic priorities.
“It is with pleasure that we are teaming up again with the U.S. Soccer Federation.”
Possible unconfirmed bids include a joint project among Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, South Africa that hosted the 2010 men’s edition and Brazil that staged the men’s event in 2014.
After Friday’s deadline to express interest, applicants will have until May 19 to confirm the bid with signed documents. FIFA will conduct workshops with the candidates in August before final bids are to be submitted on December 8.
FIFA experts will attend on-site tours of venues in February 2024 before an evaluation report is published in May. FIFA Congress is expected to elect the host May 17 at a location not yet determined.
