Women's World Cup to have 48 teams from 2031 finals

(NLDO) – FIFA has approved a proposal to expand the Women's World Cup to 48 participating teams from 2031 when the final tournament is scheduled to be held in the United States.

If everything goes according to the schedule approved by FIFA, the Women's World Cup will take a big step forward, not inferior to the playing field of its male counterparts. In fact, women's football in the world will "develop" faster than the Men's World Cup in terms of speed of scale expansion.

If the 2019 Women's World Cup held in France only had 24 participating teams, four years later, the tournament held in Australia and New Zealand had 32 teams (including the Vietnamese women's team, which qualified for the first time).

Spain wins 2023 Women's World Cup

The 2027 World Cup in Brazil will still feature 32 teams, but four years later, the 2031 World Cup, which is scheduled to be hosted by the United States, will be expanded to 48 teams. The number of teams will increase, as will the organization and scale of the tournament. According to FIFA, the 2031 World Cup will adopt a 12-group format, increase the total number of matches from 64 to 104 – similar to the 2026 Men's World Cup – and the tournament will be extended by one week.

At the online general assembly meeting on May 9, FIFA officially approved the proposal to expand the Women's World Cup from 2031. "This is not only about having 16 more teams participating in the World Cup finals, but the world of women's football is also actively taking the next steps related to the overall development process. Many FIFA member associations have the opportunity to benefit from the tournament to comprehensively develop their national women's football structure" - FIFA President Gianni Infantino affirmed in an official statement.

The US players and the 2019 Women's World Cup trophy

The United States is expected to be awarded the 2031 Women's World Cup as the sole host, marking the third time the country has hosted the women's soccer tournament after previously hosting it in 1999 and 2003.

The rights to host the 2031 and 2035 Women's World Cups have yet to be ratified, with the United States the frontrunner for the 2031 tournament and the United Kingdom the sole host for 2035. There have been concerns that once the tournament expands to 48 teams, it will be a "one-sided" affair due to the disparity in class. However, as president Gianni Infantino has noted, the performances of the teams at the 2023 World Cup show that the gap between groups of teams is gradually narrowing significantly.

Sweden enters the 2023 World Cup semi-finals with the excellence of goalkeeper Zerica Musovic (1)

"The 2023 Women's World Cup, the first tournament in which teams from every confederation won at least one match and teams from five confederations qualified for the knockout stages, among other records, has set a new standard for global competitiveness. The decision to expand the World Cup ensures that the momentum of women's football continues to grow globally," the FIFA chief added.

Japan won the 2011 World Cup and entered the quarterfinals of the 2023 World Cup.

Netflix to exclusively broadcast Women's World Cup in the US

FIFA and Netflix have reached an agreement to broadcast the 2027 and 2031 Women's World Cups in the United States, providing live streaming of all matches in both English and Spanish to American viewers. The deal also includes live streaming in Puerto Rico on a multilingual platform.

In addition to broadcasting the tournament, Netflix will also produce a series of documentaries that aim to convey the appeal of women's football to audiences ahead of both finals, helping to increase the appeal of the World Cup as well as demonstrate a strong commitment to developing women's football.

The 2023 World Cup final between England and Spain attracted a record viewership of over 12 million, on BBC One in the UK alone.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/world-cup-women-se-co-48-doi-ke-tu-vong-chung-ket-2031-tang-co-hoi-cho-viet-nam-19625051008485112.htm