In May 2023, it became public knowledge that England will mount a bid to host the 2031 Women’s World Cup.
England has never hosted a Women’s World Cup. They smoothly hosted Euro 2022, however, with the Lionesses winning their first ever major tournament.
Interest in women’s football is at an all-time high. The team are among the betting favourites for every competition they enter. Sarina Wiegman’s squad have become national heroes.
Of course, the infrastructure is in place with venues of varying sizes all over the country. Seven of the 10 highest attendances in Euros history came during the 2022 edition, with nearly 90,000 packing into Wembley for the final.
The average attendance for the 2022 Euros was over double that of the next highest in competition history, with a total attendance of 574,875 across 31 matches.
There were just 240,055 for 31 fixtures at the 2017 tournament in the Netherlands, which was the previous record.
There’s no questioning the level of live betting interest when it comes to England’s World Cup hosting bid. They would be spoilt for choice when it comes to picking the stadiums, too.
FA Chairwoman Debby Hewitt spoke to The Times about the interest in a bid.
“We want to be known as a centre for successfully hosting major events. It has a hugely positive impact on the country and on local communities who participate, so why wouldn’t we have ambitions to host a Women’s World Cup, particularly as the women’s game is growing?
“Our mind is focused on Euro 2028 and we have a very difficult and important bid to win, but as the chair you should always keep your mind’s eye on what’s the next one and what can we do to put ourselves in good shape, and the Women’s World Cup is a very attractive proposition.”
This is England’s first bid to host a Women’s World Cup, after missing out on hosting the 2006 and 2018 editions of the men’s tournament.
Any further progress waits on the result of the 2027 bid, though, with Brazil, South Africa and combined bids from Belgium/Germany/Netherlands, and Mexico/United States currently in the running.
If the European bid wins, England’s attempt would be pushed back to 2035. If the Lionesses were to host the biggest tournament of all, they'd be popular in Women's World Cup predictions.
2031 Women's World Cup Bidders
Currently, China and Spain are the only other nations set to bid to host the 2031 Women’s World Cup.
China hosted the inaugural tournament in 1991, and won the rights for the 2003 tournament, but it was moved to the USA due to the SARS epidemic. FIFA awarded China the 2007 competition as compensation.
Spain has never hosted a Women’s World Cup or a Women’s European Championship.
Barcelona has the record for attendance at a women’s match, though, and Spain obviously has an array of appropriate stadia.
The Women's World Cup Bid Process
A final decision on the host for the 2031 Women’s World Cup will not be made until the second quarter of 2025.
The process for bidding for the World Cup has been bolstered for the 2027 tournament.
The FIFA Council will select up to three bids, with an open vote then taking place to appoint the tournament hosts. That group will also set up a Bid Evaluation Task Force.
An outside party is involved to audit ‘FIFA’s compliance with the principles and procedures of the bidding process’. Each bidding nation must also bring in a Bid Compliance and Ethics Officer.
For the 2027 selection, on-site visits will be conducted several months before a final decision. FIFA will also make the Bid Evaluation Reports public. The FIFA Congress will name the host over three years before the tournament is scheduled to begin.
While FIFA is likely to tweak some of the steps for 2031, this gives an idea of what England, China and Spain could be involved in as they compete for the rights to host the tournament.
Previous Women’s World Cup Hosts
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1991 – China
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1995 – Sweden
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1999 – USA
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2003 – USA
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2007 – China
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2011 – Germany
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2015 – Canada
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2019 – France
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2023 – Australia/New Zealand
Average Women’s World Cup Attendances
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1991 – 18,344
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1995 – 4,316
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1999 – 37,944
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2003 – 21,240
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2007 – 37,218
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2011 – 26,430
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2015 – 26,029
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2019 – 21,756
Women's World Cup Record Attendances
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Highest match attendance - 90,185, USA vs China in 1999 final
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Lowest match attendance – 250, Nigeria vs Canada, 1995
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Highest average tournament attendance – 37,319, 1999
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Highest total attendance – 1,353,506, 2015 in Canada
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Lowest average tournament attendance – 4,316, 1995 in Sweden
