Australia and New Zealand will jointly host the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 after the FIFA Council have voted in favour of the trans-Tasman bid over Colombia. Previously Brazil and Japan withdrew their bids to host the Women’s World Cup citing different reasons.
The successful joint bid received 22 of the 35 valid votes with the South Americans receiving 12 votes.
FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 is scheduled between July 10 to August 10, 2023. It will be winter in Australia and New Zealand, which are in Southern hemisphere.
Stadiums
According to bid proposes, 13 stadiums in 12 cities across Australia and New Zealand will be part of World Cup fixtures. FIFA requires a minimum of 10 to be used — five in each of the countries.
Eden Park in Auckland will host the opening game on July 10, and Stadium Australia in Sydney will have the final on August 10.
The planned redevelopment of Sydney Olympic stadium into a 70,000-seat was recently put on hold. FIFA’s requirement says World Cup final should be played in a venue with a minimum capacity of 55,000. With or without renovation process, the stadium qualifies for World Cup.
| Stadium | City | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Stadium Australia | Sydney | 70,000 |
| Eden Park | Auckland | 48,276 |
| Hindmarsh stadium | Adelaide | 18,435 |
| Lang Park | Brisbane | 52,263 |
| Christchurch stadium | Christchurch | 22,556 |
| Dunedin stadium | Dunedin | 28,744 |
| Waikato stadium | Hamilton | 25,111 |
| York Park | Launceston | 22,065 |
| AAMI Park | Melbourne | 30,052 |
| Newcastle stadium | Newcastle | 25,945 |
| Perth Oval | Perth | 22,225 |
| Sydney Football Stadium | Sydney | 42,512 |
| Wellington Regional Stadium | Wellington | 39,000 |
Teams
The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 will feature 32 teams, up from the current 24 teams that competed in France World Cup in 2019. The teams will be divided into eight groups in the initial stages. This will be split evenly between Australia and New Zealand.
As in case of the men’s tournament, the hosts qualify automatically. In the instance of a joint bid, both Australia and New Zealand would be automatically qualified. The breakdown of number of teams qualified from each confederation will be determined in due course.
Matildas, who are currently holding FIFA ranking of ‘7’, will be one of the favourites to lift the cup in the next tournament. Matildas have been going through its own “golden generation” in recent years, and hosting the FIFA WWC will provide them with extra motivation to win their first World Cup at their own backyards.
FIFA Women’s World Cup Champions
| Year | Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place |
| 1991 | USA | Norway | Sweden | Germany |
| 1995 | Norway | Germany | USA | China |
| 1999 | USA | China | Brazil | Norway |
| 2003 | Germany | Sweden | USA | Canada |
| 2007 | Germany | Brazil | USA | Norway |
| 2011 | Japan | USA | Sweden | France |
| 2015 | USA | Japan | England | Germany |
| 2019 | USA | Nederlands | Sweden | England |
FIFA Women’s World Ranking
| Rank | Country | Points |
| 1 | USA | 2181 |
| 2 | Germany | 2090 |
| 3 | France | 2036 |
| 4 | Netherlands | 2032 |
| 5 | Sweden | 2007 |
| 6 | England | 1999 |
| 7 | Australia | 1963 |
| 8 | Brazil | 1958 |
| 8 | Canada | 1958 |
| 10 | Korea DPR | 1940 |
| 11 | Japan | 1937 |
| 12 | Norway | 1930 |
| 13 | Spain | 1915 |
| 14 | Italy | 1889 |
| 15 | China PR | 1867 |
| 16 | Denmark | 1851 |
| 17 | Belgium | 1819 |
| 18 | Korea Republic | 1818 |
| 19 | Iceland | 1817 |
| 20 | Switzerland | 1815 |
| 21 | Scotland | 1804 |
| 22 | Austria | 1792 |
| 23 | New Zealand | 1757 |
| 24 | Russia | 1708 |
| 25 | Columbia | 1700 |
