Brazil to Host 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Brazil will host the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, bringing the event to South America for the first time after beating out a three-country European rival bid.

Brazil won a vote of FIFA’s 211 member nations during its Congress in Bangkok on Friday. Brazil moved ahead of a joint Germany-Belgium-Netherlands bid recently after being given a higher rating by FIFA’s technical inspection team while a joint bid from the United States and Mexico withdrew last month. The FIFA Congress on Friday voted 119-78 for Brazil.

“We are a South American country that achieved the victory for women’s soccer,” Brazil’s soccer federation president Ednaldo Rodrigues said before reflecting on recent flooding that has devastated parts of the country. “After the things that impact all Brazilians — a catastrophe due to the climate change — our achievement today, the first Women’s World Cup in South America, will help strengthen us.”

Based on the technical evaluation by a FIFA in-house panel, Brazil’s bid was given an average score of 4.0 out of 5, while the joint European bid received a 3.7. The Brazilian bid plans to use 10 of the venues that hosted the men’s World Cup in 2014 and outscored its European rival in three of four evaluation categories including accommodation, fan festival venues and stadia.

U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation withdrew their joint bid 2027 and will instead focus on bidding to host in 2031. A joint statement from the U.S. and Mexico made reference to wanting to have more time between potentially hosting World Cups, with the two countries plus Canada scheduled to joint-host the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.

Brazil hosted the men’s World Cup in 1950 and 2014. South America has never hosted the Women’s World Cup but five times has hosted the Men’s World Cup; South America will host three games in the 2030 Men’s World Cup with one each in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay for a tournament mostly to be hosted in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

The Brazil women’s national football team was runner-up in the 2007 Women’s World Cup and was third in the 1999 tournament held in the United States. Dominant within South America, the team has also won two silver medals in the Olympic Summer Games in 2004 and 2008.

Germany hosted the Women’s World Cup in 2011 and the men’s World Cup in 2006. It also will host the men’s European Championship starting June 14. The Belgium and Netherlands co-hosted the men’s 2000 European Championship while Belgium also hosted the men’s 1972 Euros.