U.S., Mexico withdraw women’s World Cup 2027 bid, shift focus to 2031

With soccer’s global governing body just weeks away from selecting the host of the 2027 women’s World Cup, the United States and Mexico on Monday withdrew their joint bid to focus on landing the 2031 tournament instead.

The decision leaves Brazil and a combined bid by Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium as the remaining candidates for 2027, which will be decided by FIFA on May 17. With FIFA likely to prioritize development of the women’s game, Brazil is the front-runner to host a tournament that has never been staged in South America.

The U.S.-Mexico bid would seem to be the favorite for 2031 ahead of possible bids from Spain, Britain, China, South Africa and the German-Dutch-Belgium effort, should it lose out in 2027. FIFA will vote on the 2031 host next year.

The 2027 bid seemed a bit forced, given that the United States, Mexico and Canada will stage the 2026 men’s World Cup and Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympics.

“Hosting a World Cup tournament is a huge undertaking — and having additional time to prepare allows us to maximize its impact across the globe,” U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone said in a statement Monday. “Shifting our bid will enable us to host a record-breaking women’s World Cup in 2031 that will help to grow and raise the level of the women’s game both here at home as well as across the globe.”

The additional year to prepare the bid and the extra four years to prepare for the competition would “allow us to build on the learnings and success of the 2026 World Cup, better support our host cities, expand our partnerships and media deals and further engage with our fans,” the U.S. and Mexican federations said.

The United States hosted the 1999 and 2003 women’s World Cups. Mexico has never been involved. The last time the competition took place in North America was 2015 in Canada.

In a statement, Mexican federation president Ivar Sisniega said, “The strength and universality of our professional women’s leagues, coupled with our experience from organizing the 2026 World Cup, means that we will be able to provide the best infrastructure as well as an enthusiastic fan base that will make all the participating teams feel at home and to put together a World Cup that will contribute to the continued growth of women’s football.”

The women’s World Cup, which was first held in 1991, has experienced rapid growth in popularity and drew large crowds and TV audiences at the past four tournaments: 2011 in Germany, 2015 in Canada, 2019 in France and last year in Australia and New Zealand. The number of participants has swelled to 32, doubling since 2011.