2035 FIFA Women's World Cup
| 2035 Corn Domhanda na mBan FIFA 2035 Cupa na Cruinne nam Bàn FIFA Cwpan y Byd Merched FIFA 2035 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host countries | England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales |
| Dates | TBD |
| Teams | 48 (from 6 confederations) |
← 2031 2039 → | |
The 2035 FIFA Women's World Cup is scheduled to be the 12th edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's football championship contested by the national teams that represent the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will be hosted by England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales,[1] and will be the second tournament to feature 48 national teams. The tournament marks the first time that England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales hosts the FIFA Women's World Cup, and will also be the fourth in Europe after Sweden in 1995, Germany in 2011, and France in 2019. England will also become the eighth country—after Sweden, the United States, Germany, France, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico—to host both the men's and women's World Cup, having hosted the former in 1966, thus being its FIFA tournament it has hosted in 69 years. It is also set to be the first FIFA tournament to be held in Northern Ireland and Wales, and the second to be held in Scotland since 1989.
Host selection
The host nation for the 2031 Women's World Cup is scheduled to be decided by the 76th FIFA Congress on 30 April 2026 in Vancouver, two years after the host selection for the 2027 edition.[2][3] On 5 March 2025 the FIFA Council approved the bid regulations which restricted bids to UEFA and CAF members.[4] The key dates include:[5]
- 31 March 2025: Member associations to submit their expressions of interest to host the 2031 and 2035 Women's World Cup
- 30 April 2025: Member associations to confirm their interest in bidding to host the Women's World Cup by submitting the bidding agreement
- Q2 2025: Bid workshop and observer programme to take place
- Q4 2025: Member associations to submit their bids to FIFA
- February 2026: FIFA to organise on-site inspection visits to bidding countries
- May 2026: Publication of FIFA's bid evaluation report
- 2nd quarter: Designation of bids by the FIFA Council
- 30 April 2026: Appointment of the 2031 and 2035 Women's World Cup host(s) by the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, Canada.
On 3 April 2025, FIFA announced that the United Kingdom home nations bid was the only valid bid.[6]
Format
The 2035 FIFA Women's World Cup will be contested by 48 teams as part of an expansion starting with the 2031 edition.[7]
Venues
In its hosting requirements document, FIFA stipulated that the 32-team competition will have a minimum of eight stadiums—of which at least five were existing venues. The stadiums would have minimum seating capacities of 20,000 for most matches, 40,000 for semifinal matches, and 65,000 for the opening match and final.[8] However, additional changes will be made to accommodate the expansion to 48.
Teams
Qualification
FIFA's confederations organise their own qualifying competitions, with the exception of CAF and CONCACAF which qualify teams through continental championships. The hosts England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland receive automatic qualification for the tournament, leaving most of the remaining FIFA member associations eligible to enter qualification if they chose to do so. Wales and Northern Ireland will participate for the first time ever, but may still qualify for 2027 or 2031.
The allocation of slots below was announced by the FIFA Council in April 2025. The slot for the host nation will be taken directly from the quotas allocated to their confederation.
- AFC (Asia):
- CAF (Africa): TBD
- CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean): TBD
- CONMEBOL (South America): TBD
- OFC (Oceania): TBD
- UEFA (Europe): (including co-hosts England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales)
- Inter-confederation play-off tournament: TBD
Qualified teams
| Team | Qualified as | Qualification date | Appearance in finals |
Last appearance |
Consecutive streak |
Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | Co-hosts | 3 April 2025 | 7th/8th/9th | 2023/2027/2031 | 6/7/8 | Runners-up (2023) |
| Northern Ireland | 1st/2nd/3rd | None/2027/2031 | 1/2/3 | Debut | ||
| Scotland | 2nd/3rd/4th | 2019/2027/2031 | 1/2/3 | Group stage (2019) | ||
| Wales | 1st/2nd/3rd | None/2027/2031 | 1/2/3 | Debut |
Marketing
Broadcasting
References
- ^ "UK set to host Women's World Cup in 2035 after FIFA reveals home nations are 'sole bidders' for tournament". Sky Sports. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
- ^ "FIFA Council endorsed international match calendar principles and competitions". FIFA+. FIFA. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
- ^ "FIFA Council highlights record breaking revenue in football". FIFA. 14 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
- ^ "FIFA Council approves unprecedented prize money pot for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ and takes key decisions on women's competitions". inside.fifa.com.
- ^ "FIFA Women's World Cup 2031™ and FIFA Women's World Cup 2035™ Overview of the Bidding Processes" (PDF). FIFA. 5 March 2025. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
- ^ "UK set to host 2035 Women's World Cup as only 'valid' bid". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
- ^ Keogh, Emily (3 April 2025). "Infantino: USA set to host 2031 Women's World Cup, UK gets 2035".
- ^ "FIFA Women's World Cup 2031 Overview of Hosting Requirements" (PDF). FIFA. 6 March 2025. p. 4. Retrieved 20 April 2025.