The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is heading to Australia and New Zealand, with the co-hosts beating out a strong push from Colombia. The final vote was 22-13.
The news was announced Thursday during a FIFA Council meeting, ensuring the quadrennial event returns to the Asian Football Confederation for the first time since China hosted the 2007 tournament. An Oceanic country has never hosted either the men's or women's World Cup.
It’s the first time two countries will host the FIFA Women’s World Cup, though the men’s version was dual-hosted in 2002 between Japan and South Korea. The 2026 Men's World Cup will go one step further and include three countries: the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The 2023 World Cup will include an expanded field for the first time, as it reaches 32 teams that form eight groups of four. The US women’s national team has won the last two World Cups, events that saw the field expanded from 16 to 24 teams.
The USWNT owns a record four World Cup titles, while Germany has won twice and Norway and Japan each have one title. Although they’ve never won, Sweden has made four semifinal appearances.
