# 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup

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 2026.

## Host selection

The host nation for the 2031 Women's World Cup is scheduled to be decided by the 76th FIFA Congress in 2026, two years after the host selection for the 2027 edition. On 5 March 2025 the FIFA Council approved the bid regulations which restricted bids to CONCACAF and CAF members. The key dates include:
* 5 April 2025: Member associations to submit their expressions of interest to host the 2031 Women's World Cup
* 5 May 2025: Member associations to confirm their interest in bidding to host the Women's World Cup by submitting the bidding agreement
* Q2 2025: Bid workshop and observer programme to take place
* Q4 2025: Member associations to submit their bids to FIFA
* February 2026: FIFA to organise on-site inspection visits to bidding countries
* May 2026: Publication of FIFA's bid evaluation report
* 2nd quarter: Designation of bids by the FIFA Council
* Q2 2026: Appointment of the 2031 Women's World Cup host(s) by the FIFA Congress in TBD.

## Interested bids
### CAF

* Morocco
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, following Morocco's selection of hosting 2030 FIFA World Cup 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. 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.
* South Africa
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. 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

* 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. Both countries are co-hosts of the men's 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. 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. On January 15, 2025, USSF president Cindy Parlow Cone confirmed the two nations would bid as soon as FIFA announces the bidding process. On March 5, 2025, the USSF announced that it had started the bidding process.

## Other bids

Before the 2031 Women's World Cup was confirmed to be in North America and Africa, these were other countries that were interested in bidding for the Women's World Cup.

### AFC

* China (possibly including Hong Kong & Macau)
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. 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). 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. 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. The bid was rendered ineligible on 5 March 2025.
* Japan
On 5 August 2024, the newly elected president of the Japan Football Association Tsuneyasu Miyamoto expressed the country's interest of hosting the tournament. 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. The bid was rendered ineligible on 5 March 2025.

### UEFA

* 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. A bid alongside Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland similar to their successful UEFA Euro 2028 bid was also proposed. The home nations of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) pushed their bid from 2031 to 2035 following the confirmation of hosting restrictions on 5 March 2025.
* Spain
In May 2023, former mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau proposed a bid for Barcelona to host the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup. 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. 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. Spain may push their bid back to 2035.

## Format

The possible proposal of expansion of Women's World Cup from 32 to 48 teams comes with the success of 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup which was increased from 24 to 32 teams and the expansion of 2026 FIFA World Cup to 48 teams. The rapid growth of women's soccer in recent years has lead to the potential expansion following suit with the men's game. During the 5 March 2025 FIFA Council meeting, FIFA president Gianni Infantino stated that the tournament would possibly be expanded to 48 teams depending on decisions made in the lead-up to the host selection.
If the expansion happens, this would be the first FIFA Women's World Cup to include 48 teams, an increase from 32 teams, mirroring the expansion of men's world cup since 2026. The teams would be split in 12 groups of 4 teams, with the top two of each group and the eight best third-placed teams progressing to a new round of 32. The total number of games played would increase from 64 to 104, and the number of games played by teams reaching the final four would increase from seven to eight. The format would be the same as the one used in the FIFA World Cup since 2026.

## Marketing
### Broadcasting

* United States – Netflix