Football's coming home? England confirm plans to host Women's World Cup as early as 2031

The Women's World Cup has never been held in the UK despite its status as one of the largest sporting events globally. But this could change within a decade as UK Sport is working on a blueprint to organise the marquee event in the 2030s - albeit with Government support.

“It [Women’s World Cup] has a special appeal to us,” said Simon Morton, UK Sport’s director of events.

“The impacts that we look for most strongly now around big sporting events are societal. The ability to have these moments of real shared human experience where we bring people together, particularly in a sort of post-Covid world, particularly in an increasingly digital world, are the impacts that are really rising to the fore when we think about hosting these big, big tournaments.

“The potential of sporting events to bring the country together at scale, there’s almost nothing else that does that. And that’s really where we’re focusing our emphasis on the impacts of events. When we look at a Women’s World Cup that’s the sort of impact that we want to achieve.”

However, the path to securing the hosting rights is not without its challenges. The bidding process for the 2027 event is currently underway, with Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands jointly vying for the opportunity. If this European bid proves successful, it would prevent another European nation from bidding until 2035, complicating England's aspirations.

In addition to European competition, England face competition from Saudi Arabia, which has expressed its interest in hosting the Women's World Cup in 2035. With the Kingdom slated to host the Men's World Cup in 2034, Monika Staab, the technical director of the Saudi Arabia women’s team,revealed that the Gulf nation views hosting the women's event as part of its long-term strategic vision for global sports.

With international rivals making strides in securing hosting rights for major tournaments, the UK aims to position itself as a formidable contender in the race to host the FIFA Women's World Cup.

“The role of Saudi and its presence on the global competition circuit is becoming normalised over, certainly over the last 12 to 24 months. This is why the UK needs to respond,” added Morton.

“The UK's mega-event hosting pipeline is tightening, and our international rivals are catching up. And so we need to respond.”

The stakeholders in English football will undoubtedly rally behind their bid for the Women's World Cup as there is a growing feeling to restamp their authority in the international arena amid a surge in competition from other rivals.