The 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC) will take place in Brazil, it has been confirmed today, marking the first time South America hosts the top women's soccer national teams tournament.
Brazil came out on top in a vote by the 211 member federations that make up global governing body FIFA, securing 119 votes - the other submission, a joint bid by Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, only brought in 78.
Brazil officially confirmed its bid last December.
The vote took place at FIFA’s 2024 congress in Bangkok, Thailand, with each federation having an open vote - this format was being used for the first time to determine a WWC host, with previous editions having been allocated through a vote of the FIFA executive committee.
The moment Brazil were appointed @FIFAWWC 2027 hosts! 🤩
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) May 17, 2024
Congratulations, @CBF_Futebol 👏 pic.twitter.com/3niPfbNLWq
Ednaldo Rodrigues, president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, said: “We knew we would be celebrating a victory for South American women's soccer and for women. You can be sure, with no vanity, we will accomplish the best World Cup for women.”
Valesca Araujo, the operational manager of Brazil's bid team, added: “We are working on a transformation, not only for the country but for the continent.”
While Brazil has never hosted a WWC before, it has put on the men's World Cup twice, in 1950 and 2014.
A bid to host the 2027 event submitted by the US and Mexico in April last year was withdrawn recently. Those countries will now instead focus on the 2031 edition.
Last year, South Africa also withdrew its bid to host the tournament in 2027 to focus on bidding for the 2031 WWC.
This result comes after Brazil’s submission was given a rating of 4.0 out of 5 by FIFA’s technical inspection team - in a report published on May 7 - as opposed to 3.7 for the European bid.
Brazil’s bid did better in terms of the inspection team’s evaluation than its European rivals’ effort, in three out of five categories - covering stadiums, accommodation, and FIFA fan festival sites.
The European submission, on the other hand, outscored Brazil’s effort in terms of both team and referee facilities, and broadcast/media sites.
Out of the trio of European nations, Germany has put on the soccer tournament before, staging the 2011 edition.
FIFA’s evaluation team also rated the European submission’s legal situation as ‘high-risk.’
The 2023 WWC was held across Australia and New Zealand in June and July, while the 2019 edition took place in France.
Previous hosts also include China, Sweden, the United States, and Canada.
Meanwhile, FIFA has named Mattias Grafström as its permanent secretary general after holding the position on an interim basis since October.
Fatma Samoura assumed the role in 2016 and announced in June 2023 that she would step down at the end of the year. However, she was replaced before her departure by her deputy Grafström.
Grafström joined FIFA as deputy director of its legal division in 2016 after the Swiss succeeded Sepp Blatter before being promoted to be Samoura's deputy and has now assumed the number two position at the governing body behind president Gianni Infantino.
The dual Swedish and Dutch national will face an immediate challenge regarding the new format of the FIFA Club World Cup.
Last week, the World Leagues Association and FIFPRO players' union threatened FIFA with legal action if the competition is not pushed back after claiming there was no consultation over its addition to a global soccer calendar that is “beyond saturation.”
The 32-team competition is currently scheduled to be held between June 13 and July 15 next year.
