We now know where the 2034 men’s World Cup will most likely take place — in Saudi Arabia, thanks to Australia’s exit from the bidding process. Yet, we still don’t know who will host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, and we won’t any time soon. I’ll say that again: We know where a men’s edition of the tournament will be 11 years from now, but we still have no idea where we’re heading for the very next edition of the women’s tournament, just three years away. And we won’t know that until May 17, 2024.
Yes, you read that right.
While there are many valid threads of criticism to follow regarding the men’s tournament, yesterday’s news was also yet another reminder of how women’s football remains a distant second on the priority list for the international federation.
If the 2027 World Cup started on July 15 (an intellectual thought experiment because FIFA’s international dates are only planned through 2025, as of now), that’s a turnaround time of 1,154 days to put together the logistics of a 32-team tournament. When Australia and New Zealand were selected as co-hosts on June 25, 2020, the two countries had roughly the same turnaround time the 2027 host(s) will have: 1,120 days. The 2023 edition was a success by all measures, from ticket sales to revenue…
