Australia and New Zealand will host the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Fifa has announced.
Colombia, which was the only other competitor in the run after Brazil and Japan fell out of the chase earlier in June, got the nod ahead of the joint bid.
The 2023 edition will be the first to feature 32 sides of a women’s game-up from the existing 24. The competition is scheduled for July to August 2023.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino said: “The bidding process was extremely competitive, so we would like to thank all bidders for their excellent efforts. It was very, really well organized.
Must Read: Top 5 Popular Sports In New Zealand Till Now
The bid received 22 of the 35 votes cast by members of the Fifa Council with Colombia receiving 13 votes. Greg Clarke, the president of the Football Association, voted for Colombia as did the other eight Uefa members.
Australia and New Zealand’s joint bid
The joint bid from Australia and New Zealand promised “an unprecedented level of investment” in the tournament.
This will be the first World Cup hosted across two of football’s continental confederations (Australia are in the Asia confederation, while New Zealand is part of Oceania).
Chris Nikou, president of Football Federation Australia (FFA) said the forthcoming competition will be “ground-breaking”.
Australia and New Zealand will co-host the 2023 Women's World Cup, FIFA announces. The tournament, scheduled to begin on July 10, 2023, will be played across eight stadiums in Australia and five in New Zealand. https://t.co/7WdqJ5d33P
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) June 25, 2020
He added: “Not only will it be the first-ever co-confederation to host the Fifa World Cup and the first ever Fifa Women’s World Cup in the Asia-Pacific region, but we will be unlocking the enormous potential for growth in Asia-Pacific women’s football.”
The Reason: Why Rugby Is So Important In New Zealand?
New Zealand Football president Johanna Wood said: “We believe a treasure has been given to us, and we’re going to look after that treasure.
How many teams will there be?
The 2023 Women’s World Cup will feature 32 teams, up from the 24 that competed in France in 2019. There will be eight groups of four teams in the initial stages, split evenly between Australia and New Zealand.
The qualification will start next year — contingent on an easing of the global coronavirus pandemic.
The countries have proposed to stage matches at up to eight grounds in Australia:
- Stadium Australia, Sydney (the final), capacity: 70,000
- Sydney Football Stadium, capacity: 42,512
- Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, capacity: 30,052
- Brisbane Stadium, capacity: 52,263
- Perth Rectangular Stadium, capacity: 22,225
- Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, capacity: 18,435
- Newcastle Stadium, capacity: 25,945
- York Park, Launceston, Tasmania, capacity: 22,065
And five stadiums in New Zealand:
- Eden Park, Auckland (opening game), capacity: 48,276
- Wellington Stadium, capacity: 39,000
- Christchurch Stadium, capacity: 22,556
- Waikato Stadium, Hamilton, capacity: 25,111
- Dunedin Stadium, capacity: 28,744
Leave a Reply