Brazil will host the 2027 the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The South American nation was chosen over the joint bid from Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, nicknamed "BNG", during the FIFA congress vote held in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday.
Their bid defeated the joint proposal from Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands by 119 votes to 78. Mexico and the United States had also jointly planned to host the tournament, but withdrew to focus on organising the 2031 event.
This will mark the first time a Women’s World Cup has been hosted in South America. Brazil previously hosted the men’s tournaments in 1950 and 2014.
All the ten cities chosen for the Brazilian bid hosted matches in the 2014 World Cup. Nine stadiums will be reused, with only São Paulo proposing a different venue. The iconic Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro is set to host the opening match and the final.
Belgium had hoped to host a World Cup for the first time in its history, for either the women’s or the men’s tournaments. Their last major hosting duties were for the men’s Euro 2000, which they co-hosted with the Netherlands, and the Euro 1972.
In the final run up to the 2027 World Cup announcement, Brazil appeared to be in pole position. An evaluation report by FIFA in early May gave the South American bid a 4 out of 5 score, compared with only 3.7 out of 5 for BNG.
Various aspects of the two bids were analysed, including infrastructure (stadiums and accommodation), marketing, sustainability, human rights and legal issues.
According to the jury, both bids met the minimum criteria for hosting the tournament, but the BNG bid was seen to carry a "high risk" concerning certain legal questions. Particular concern was shown over certain provisions in the legal framework for hosting the tournament, specifically agreements relating to stadiums and host-cities.
The most recent Women’s World Cup, in 2023, took place in Australia and New Zealand. Belgium did not qualify, and Spain took home the trophy.
