Women’s World Cup to extend to 48 groups at 2031 match

The Women’s World Cup will extend to 48 groups from the 2031 match onwards after the proposal used to be licensed via the Fifa council on Friday.

The UK is about to host the development in 2035 and that match will now contain 12 teams of 4 groups and greater than 100 suits, with the layout mirroring the newly expanded males’s World Cup. It is known Fifa took this resolution after consulting the continental confederations and imagine growth of its maximum vital match befits the fast expansion of the ladies’s recreation.

The World Cup greater in dimension from 24 to 32 groups for the 2023 match in Australia and New Zealand. It will once more have 32 groups for the 2027 version in Brazil. The 8 venues for 2027’s match – together with the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro – had been showed previous this week.

The United States is about to degree the 2031 match after there have been no competing bids to degree both that or the 2035 match. The US and UK are but to be officially ratified because the hosts however this is anticipated to be a formality.

The growth of the Women’s World Cup may just imply an greater selection of host towns and stadiums will likely be required in the United Kingdom’s 2035 match plans. Alongside Wembley, Hampden Park and Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, it’s idea as-yet unbuilt venues comparable to Manchester United’s new stadium and Birmingham City’s proposed new 62,000-seater house may just each be in competition to host suits, if inbuilt time.

Fifa has additionally licensed a three-pillar technique for Afghan ladies’s soccer, together with the established order of a ladies’s refugee crew, as reported in March.

The 3 pillars of the plan imply the worldwide governing frame will supply “project-specific support for women and girls in Afghanistan”, whilst bearing in mind the restrictions there, embark on “advocacy and diplomatic engagement with relevant actors” within the Taliban-led nation and reinforce taking part in alternatives and strengthen for gamers outdoor of the rustic.

The 3rd pillar contains the established order of a crew of evacuated gamers of Afghan nationality who will be capable of take part in friendlies and tournaments organised via Fifa and can “provide a supportive environment that prioritises player safety and wellbeing”.

However, it’s understood the verdict has come too overdue for a crew to qualify for the 2027 World Cup, with Afghanistan now not entered into the June qualifying marketing campaign for the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, which can decide World Cup qualification.

The refugee crew will likely be organised for a one-year pilot segment, and then its long-term viability, effectiveness and the potential for the layout getting used for different refugee teams will likely be assessed.

Khalida Popal, founding father of the Afghanistan ladies’s nationwide crew mentioned: “We are proud to be part of history in helping create Fifa’s first ever refugee football team … but remain hopeful Fifa can amend its statutes to provide official recognition for our players as the Afghanistan women’s national team.”

Andrea Florence, government director of the Sport & Rights Alliance, mentioned: “This first step from Fifa to create an Afghan women’s refugee team is a testament to the tireless advocacy and persistence of the Afghan women players. Yet it is important to note that this does not fully address the ongoing gender discrimination by the Afghanistan Football Federation as it continues to ban women from playing and the matches of the AWRT will not count toward their official ranking.”