THE Women's World Cup will extend to 48 teams and 104 games in 2031, making it the largest and longest female tournament in history, FIFA announced on Friday. The event is expected to be held in the United States, the only country to tender for competition rights.
FIFA should announce a host country next summer.
The FIFA Council unanimously approved changes during a meeting held practically. The decision increases the number of participating countries from 32 and the number of games of 64, reflecting the expansion of the male tournament for 2026. This decision, said FIFA, will considerably expand the performance by offering more nations and players to elite competition while accelerating investments in women's football.
“It is not only a question of having 16 other teams playing in the FIFA Women's World Cup, but of taking the next stages of the relationship with the female game in general by ensuring that more associations of FIFA members have the opportunity to benefit from the tournament to develop their women's football structures from a holistic point of view,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
However, the expansion, which doubles the size of the field from 2019, when 24 teams played 52 games in France, could arrive too quickly. In France, five group games were decided by four or more goals – including a 13-0 victory in the United States against Thailand – while in 2023, when the tournament went to 32 teams and 64 games, 10 first -round games were decided by at least four goals.
However, the last female world cup was the first in which teams from the Six Confederations of FIFA won at least one match and the first in which teams of five confederations reached the stadium with direct elimination.
FifPro, the World Organization representing professional football players, published a statement on Friday offering conditional support for the decision while asking for additional measures to be taken to develop the female game.
“In principle, FIFPro welcomes the expansion of the FIFA Women's World Cup because it reflects the global growth of the female game,” he read. “However, the support of actors depends on the decision -making and the inclusive cooperative planning that respect all stakeholders. It is essential that the global development of women's competitions takes place with improved working conditions and the progress of players, as well as development further in the pyramid.
“This is the only way to real sustainability, expansion and progress.”
The growth of the field will require an expansion of the price of the price corn for the tournament. The handbag for the male World Cup of 48 teams next year is more than doubling, at 896 million dollars, according to FIFA. The handbag for the last women's tournament was $ 110 million. The last time the competition was held in the United States in 2003, women received no payment.
The 2031 Women's World Cup, if it is awarded to the United States, will be the third played in this country and the fourth played in North America. In addition to the 2003 tournament, which was transferred to the United States at the last minute, the 1999 competition was also played here while Canada organized the 2015 event.
