2031 FIFA Women's World Cup

[SportLightning]

With Brazil set to host 2027. It's time to start thinking about who will host the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup. So far we have eight countries that are interested of hosting it.

Bids:

China PR

England

Japan

Mexico/United States

Morocco

South Africa

Spain.

 

May 15 later this year in Asuncion, Paraguay at the 75th FIFA Congress. The host will be decided.

[Durban Sandshark]

It looks increasingly very likely that the United States, regardless whether or not it will include Mexico in the bid (hope it does), will host in 2031, 32 years after the incredible 1999 WWC that captured both national and international attention and 28 years from the previous hosting prompted by SARS in China, as the heavy fave, steering away from England, Japan, South Africa, China, Morocco, and Spain with England, South Africa, Spain, and Morocco more likely to host in 2035 with those 4 cleared away and barred from 2031. This was announced today. FIFA loves the potential for "record-breaking revenue and packed NFL stadiums" as well as the effective marketing and massive international soccer pedigree (now embarassingly tarnished there in the last one) the USA instantly provides and KNOW how to host and capitalize massive sports events:

https://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/article/fifa-makes-us-heavy-favorite-to-host-2031-womens-world-cup-195236527.html

Expect also the FIFA WWC field to be expanded to 48 teams, up from 32, starting with this one in a possible proposal after two cycles from 24 to 32 starting with 2023. Like to see what the allocation would look like and that of the intercontinental playoffs beforehand:

https://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/article/fifa-will-analyze-expanding-world-cup-to-64-teams-in-2030-132020472.html

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5968956/2024/12/04/womens-world-cup-48-teams/

https://africa.espn.com/football/story/_/id/44125860/women-world-cup-2031-usa-mexico-host-bid

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1148585/fifa-womens-world-cup-teams-expansion

ICYMI, Netflix is taking over the exclusive American FIFA WWC broadcasting from FOX and Telemundo starting with 2027-2031 in a landmark deal:

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/43075385/netflix-fifa-agree-deal-women-world-cup-2027-2031

https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/womens-world-cup-netflix

  

[yoshi]

And we're apparently doing a UK bid for 2035! Well overdue, good to see the FA & government finally committing - hopefully it'll be successful, though I don't know what competition we'll face (if any)

[Sir Rols]

4 hours ago, Durban Sandshark said:

It looks increasingly very likely that the United States, regardless whether or not it will include Mexico in the bid (hope it does), will host in 2031

… and leading that bid sounds like the perfect job for Trump to appoint Andrew Tate to

[Durban Sandshark]

On 3/6/2025 at 9:25 PM, Sir Rols said:

… and leading that bid sounds like the perfect job for Trump to appoint Andrew Tate to

Yikes! Hope that never gets around to seeing that and afterwards. But Trump will be out of office by 2031. The women certainly wouldn't to be around them...

Also hopefully Mexico would have a more recent qualification to the next WWC in Brazil 2027 after being away from the previous two before potentially sharing with the USA again in four years afterwards. To earn some experience in potentially expanding field, where they would have no excuse not to qualify out of CONCACAF.  

[StefanMUC]

5 hours ago, Durban Sandshark said:

Yikes! Hope that never gets around to seeing that and afterwards. But Trump will be out of office by 2031. 

 

For biological reasons rather than for following the constitution, if at all.

[SportLightning]

So USA and Mexico will await official ratification next May.

[Durban Sandshark]

On 3/27/2025 at 11:05 PM, StefanMUC said:

For biological reasons rather than for following the constitution, if at all.

Surely that'll be the case. But it also definitely leaves behind legacies as far as society and the world at large for years are concerned.

Yes, it is definitely expanding to 48 teams with US Soccer's support starting with 2031:

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/44515026/uk-set-host-2035-women-world-cup-rival-bids-drop-out

Anyway, the FIFA Council announced in April the 48-team 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup allocation spots in the newly expanded field in response to the deepening level and growth of worldwide play dating from the 2010s and 2020s. Like with the men's version, there will be intercontinental playoff winner spots. But the major difference in terms of spots, unlike in the men's World Cup game, is that European national women's teams get the biggest increase as opposed to other continents with the possible exception of Africa. I get why here because Europe is where the women's soccer talent is the deepest, talented, most developed and competitive and organized, and professionalized overall continent-wide right now. Man, that's practically the entire UEFA EURO field and then some, unless that too gets expended, something that we could see expanded itself by then. As we can expect from an expanded field, we will without a doubt see and expect some WWC debutants. 

--CONCACAF (North America, Caribbean, and Central America): 5 slots (including automatic hosts the United States, possibly still could include a potential CONCACAF automatic co-host like Mexico or maybe Canada, up 1 from 2019-2031)

--CAF (Africa): 7 slots (up 3 from 4 in 2019-2027)

--AFC (Asia): 8 slots (up 2 from 6 in 2019-2027)

--OFC (Oceania): 1 slot (expect New Zealand in this as always)

--UEFA (Europe): 20 slots (up 9 from 11 in 2019-2031)

--CONMEBOL (South America): 4 slots (up 1 from 2019-2031)

--Interconfederation Playoff Teams: 3 slots (same since 2023)

And those inter-continental playoff tournament, which I consider as part of the WWC like a NCAA Tournament March Madness play-in, will also see an increase in its spots too. Every confederation will still have at least 2 spots except the Oceania's OFC, which will still have only 1, but CONCACAF will attain an additional spot like it would in next year's 2026 World Cup as the host confederation up to 3 and Europe's UEFA will have another entry, reaching at 2.

So including the intercontinental playoff teams allocations, the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup field will have 57 teams total participating in North America...

--CONCACAF: 8 spots (including hosts USA)

--CAF: 9 spots 

--AFC: 10 spots

--UEFA: 22 spots

--OFC: 2 spots

--CONMEBOL: 6 spots

Sure it's very early on this. But based on what we endured so far at this, I can see the WWC debutants--to add to the 44 nations that already tasted WWC action in its history as of 2023--come 2031 being Finland, Belgium, Austria, Poland, Wales, Senegal, Taiwan, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, India, Uzbekistan, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Iceland, Wales, Czech Republic, Croatia, Serbia, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Turkey, Mali, Slovenia, Botswana, Algeria, Tunisia, Trinidad & Tobago, Dominican Republic, DR Congo, Guatemala

[Durban Sandshark]

Not a major surprise and was seriously speculated for a while, but Mexico's FMF confirms to ESPN that it will co-host 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup with the United States and US Soccer.

Although it must be noted that US Soccer itself in this article has not yet confirmed this joint co-hosting, and we obviously know the USA is more than capable in hosting solo. But the co-hosting is gonna happen--maybe get Canada Soccer in the mix too after 16 years for that nation! We would expect that Mexico City will be involved as one of the few Mexican cities involved, starting with Mexico City's Azteca Stadium having expectingly the first Mexico home game there for the women. Gotta have Mexico City! At least 3-4 games for Mexico overall with the expanded 48-nation field. Preferably, it would be nice if this current crop of Mexican El Tri players qualify and get some valuable WWC experience with Brazil as Mexico has not participated in the last two WWCs, so they wouldn't get intimidated with all the both internal and external demands and pressure come 2031 and be like a deer (or rabbit) caught in the headlights.

 

 

[SportLightning]

Jamaica is set to host matches for 2031. Announcement will be made on the 20th this month. They are looking to become the first caribbean nation to host the FIFA Women's World Cup.

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2025/10/08/jamaica-look-host-matches-2031-fifa-womens-world-cup/

[SportLightning]

USA along with Costa Rica, Jamaica and Mexico have launched a joint bid to host the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup. The ratification is pending until finalized by April 30 in Vancouver, Canada next year.

https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2025/10/us-soccer-federation-mexican-football-federation-costa-rican-football-federation-jamaica-football-federation-officially-launch-joint-bid-host-fifa-womens-world-cup-2031

 

Mexico joined USA in May. Costa Rica and Jamaica later joined earlier today at a announcement in New York City.

[Durban Sandshark]

Surely this has as much to do with showcasing its new-look National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica now without the derelict cycling track in it as much as continue building its WWC pedigree for the Reggae Girls. Gotta say, Jamaica is a surprise upon hearing it. Hey, more power to the JFF.  

[SportLightning]

4 hours ago, Durban Sandshark said:

Surely this has as much to do with showcasing its new-look National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica now without the derelict cycling track in it as much as continue building its WWC pedigree for the Reggae Girls. Gotta say, Jamaica is a surprise upon hearing it. Hey, more power to the JFF.  

Costa Rica another one although they have hosted two FIFA Women's youth tournaments (U-17 in 2014 and U-20 in 2022). I think the national stadium in San José and Alajuela would host matches. The opening my guess would be Mexico City and the final in Los Angeles.

[SportLightning]

USA (Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica) 2031 Bid Book

20 cities in the list with  14 from USA, 4 from Mexico, 1 from Costa Rica and 1 from Jamaica.

 

USA: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Charlotte (North Carolina), Denver, Houston, Kansas City Minneapolis, Nashville, New York/New Jersey, Orlando, San Diego, Seattle and Washington D.C.

Mexico: Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey and Torreón

Costa Rica: San José

Jamaica: Kingston

 

Stadiums

[SportLightning]

Just now, SportLightning said:

USA (Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica) 2031 Bid Book

20 cities in the list with  14 from USA, 4 from Mexico, 1 from Costa Rica and 1 from Jamaica.

 

USA: Atlanta, Dallas, Charlotte (North Carolina), Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Nashville, New York/New Jersey, Orlando, San Diego, Seattle and Washington D.C.

Mexico: Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey and Torreón

Costa Rica: San José

Jamaica: Kingston

Stadiums:

Atlanta: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Capacity: 75,000 According to the Bid Book)

Charlotte: Bank of America Stadium (Capacity: 75,000)

Dallas: AT&T Stadium (Capacity: 92,967 According to Bid Book) and Toyota Stadium (Capacity: 21,000)

Denver: Empower Field at Mile High (Capacity: 76,000)

Houston: NRG Stadium (Capacity: 72,220) and Shell Energy Stadium (Capacity:21,000)

Kansas City: GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium (Capacity: 76,640 According to the Bid Book) and CPKC Stadium (Capacity: 20,000)

Los Angeles: SoFi Stadium (Capacity 70,240), Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Capacity: 78,000), Rose Bowl (Capacity: 91,000) and Dignity Health Sports Park (Capacity: 27,000)

Minneapolis: U.S. Bank Stadium (Capacity: 66,000)

New York/New Jersey: MetLife Stadium (Capacity: 87,157 According to the Bid Book), Sports Illustrated Stadium (Capacity: 26,000) and Etihad Park (New) [Capacity: 24,000] 

Orlando: Camping World Stadium (Capacity: 63,000) and Inter&Co Stadium (Capacity: 25,000)

San Diego: Snapdragon Stadium (Capacity: 32,000)

Seattle: Lumen Field (Capacity: 72,000 According to the Bid Book)

Washington D.C.: The New Robert F. Kennedy Stadium (Capacity: 65,000) and Audi Field (Capacity: 20,000)

 

Mexico:

Guadalajara: Estadio Akron (Capacity: 48,071 According to the Bid Book)

Mexico City: Estadio Banorte (Capacity: 87,523)

Monterrey: Estadio BBVA (Capacity: 5,460 According to the Bid Book)

Torreón: Estadio Corona (Capacity: 30,000)

Costa Rica:
 

Estadio Nacional: (Capacity 35,000) and Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá (Capacity: 23,000)

 

Jamaica:

National Stadium (Independence Park) [Capacity: 37,000]

 

These are sample stadiums. Other other cities (with stadiums too long to mention at this time) including: Baltimore, Birmingham (Alabama), Boston, Cincinnati, Cleveland/Columbus, Indianapolis, Miami, Pachuca, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Querétaro, Salt Lake City, St. Louis and Tampa Bay.

[Sir Rols]

Potential US host cities for 2031 Women’s World Cup games mull withdrawal over Fifa concerns

[Bear]

12 minutes ago, Sir Rols said:

Potential US host cities for 2031 Women’s World Cup games mull withdrawal over Fifa concerns

I love women's sport and women's football, and I always want to see women's tournaments succeed - FIFA Women's World Cup included. But seeing how FIFA has handled the Men's World Cup this year, and more importantly, how it's fully embraced Trump, I do not want LA to be involved in any more FIFA events until the current Infantino regime is over.

I hope LA withdraws from this and gives priority to the Rugby World Cup, both the 2031 men's tournament and the 2033 women's tournament.