Brazil has been selected by FIFA as the winner of the 2027 Women’s World Cup, a first for South America

Brazil will host the 2027 Women’s World Cup after a vote of FIFA’s full membership favored the South American bid over a joint proposal from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

The FIFA Congress voted 119 to 78 on Friday to include Brazil in the narrow field of two candidates to host the 2027 tournament, after a joint bid by the United States and Mexico was withdrawn late last month and South Africa withdrew its bid in November withdrew.

It will be the first time that the global women’s tournament, which was first played in 1991, will be held in South America.

Brazil had been heavily favored to win since October, when FIFA struck deals for the 2030 and 2034 Men’s World Cups. South American neighbors Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay each got just one match out of 104 matches in the 2030 tournament , which will be largely co-play. organized by Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

A key issue for FIFA was paving the way for its close ally Saudi Arabia to win the 2034 World Cup uncontested in a fast-track process. South American football association CONMEBOL’s agreement to take over a small part of the 2030 tournament removed this from the subsequent bid.

The decision by the US and Mexico to withdraw and focus on their 2031 World Cup bids – that decision will come next year – was another indicator of Brazil’s expected victory.

The Brazilian bid team embraced and celebrated on stage after the result was announced, describing it as a victory for women’s football, for their country and for South America.

“We are a South American country that has achieved victory for women’s football,” said Ednaldo Rodrigues, president of the Brazilian Football Federation, before reflecting on the recent floods that have devastated parts of the country. “After the things that affect all Brazilians – a catastrophe due to climate change – our achievement today, the first Women’s World Cup in South America, will help strengthen us.”

It was the first time that all FIFA member associations had the opportunity to give their opinion on the host of the women’s tournament. Previously this was decided by the FIFA Council, the decision-making committee of the governing body.

There were 207 of the 211 members eligible to vote in the electronic vote, which presented three options: Brazil, BNG or abstention.

Brazil was even more favored to win the match after scoring higher in an evaluation report by a FIFA-appointed panel.

The next World Cup votes, to support the 2030 and 2034 host countries, will take place on December 11 during a remote online conference.

Source: Associated Press

–Agencies