The United Kingdom’s bid for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2035 features an incredible list of host venues surprisingly including Man United and Birmingham City’s proposed new grounds.
If the bid submitted on Friday is successful, the tournament would be the largest single-sport event ever staged on British shores, eclipsing both the Rugby World Cup of 2015 and 1998 European Championships.
16 grounds in England, three in Wales, two in Scotland and a sole stadium in Northern Ireland feature in the proposal, including Wembley, The Emirates, The Principality Stadium and Everton’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium.
However the submission also includes a number of grounds which are yet to have even been constructed. Namely Man United’s redevelopment of Old Trafford and Birmingham City’s new Powerhouse Stadium.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the hierarchy at Old Trafford announced plans for a revamped ground back in March but there has been no progress since, while Tom Brady-owned Birmingham hope to have their new stadium complete by the start of the 2030-2031 season.
Those designing Birmingham’s new ground have promised to ‘change the city forever’ and plough some £2.5billion into construction.
The World Cup submission also includes Old Trafford ‘in its current form’ as proposals for the club’s new 100,000 capacity home were not deemed detailed enough to pass FIFA’s evaluation threshold.
Both Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge and Wrexham’s Stok Cae Ras also failed to meet FIFA’s standards, with a ground provisionally called ‘Chelsea Stadium’ submitted as part of the FAs’ proposal. Todd Boehly is understood to be in talks over the possibility of a stadium switch for the Blues.
Though only currently featuring 32 nations, from 2031 the Women’s World Cup will expand to 48 teams – the same as the men’s tournament – meaning some 15 stadiums are required.
The tournament, set to take place in the summer of 2035, would require 104 matches over 39 days.
A joint statement issued this afternoon by the CEOs of the Irish, Welsh, Scottish and English FAs read: ‘A Women’s World Cup in the UK has the power to turbo charge the women’s and girls’ game both in the UK and globally.
‘Our bid also demonstrates our commitment to leaving a lasting legacy, in the run up to 2035, and the years afterwards.’
Meanwhile Prime Minister Kier Starmer hailed the Lionesses’ success in inspiring young girls to play football.
‘Our bid to host the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup shows the UK’s passion for football,’ the Labour leader said.
‘The Lionesses’ success has inspired girls across our country, and we’ll build on that momentum by welcoming millions of football fans from around the world to a tournament that will benefit communities and businesses in host cities up and down the UK.
‘With significant investment in school sport and grassroots facilities through our Plan for Change, we’re creating opportunities for girls to play for their national team.’
The success of the England Women’s team in recent years under Sarine Wiegman has been hugely influential in growing the profile and popularity of the sport in the UK.
They’ve won back-to-back European Championships, most recently beating Spain in the final last summer, and reached the World Cup Final of 2023.
Lionesses head coach Wiegman said of plans to host the 2035 tournament in the UK: ‘It’s so much more than football, I think. It will boost the women’s game but it will boost women in society and, as we have seen, it will bring the country together.’
The next Women’s World Cup will take place in Brazil in 2027 while the 2031 tournament has been allocated to Mexico, the United States and Canada with Costa Rice and Jamaica also hosting games.
