The FIFA Council on Friday approved plans to expand the Women’s World Cup to 48 teams, a source confirmed to ESPN.
The motion will now be put to a vote at the FIFA Congress in Asunción, Paraguay, on Thursday, which is expected to be a formality.
The tournament will be expanded from 32 to 48 nations for the 2031 edition, which is expected to be hosted by the United States.
It’s the only bid on the table, and will be ratified by FIFA in 2026.
It will bring the women’s competition in line with the men’s, which will feature 48 international teams as of 2026 and is being hosted by the same three Concacaf countries.
The first Women’s World Cup was held in 1991 and featured 12 countries, before expanding to 16 in 1999, then 24 in 2015 and 32 teams for the most recent tournament in 2023.
The 2027 event, being played in Brazil, will still have 32 competing nations.
U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson said last month that the federation would strongly support the latest expansion.
“Forty-eight teams is something that we’ve been passionate supporters for,” Batson said. “We think it would be incredible for growing the women’s game.
“One of the things we hear from folks who lead federations around the world is they view the Women’s World Cup as an opportunity for them to, one, make a World Cup and, two, really go compete in a way that conceivably they wouldn’t be able to on the men’s side.
“So, what this would lead to in terms of spurring investment all around the world in women’s and girls’ soccer, we think would be incredible.”
NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman used the term “catalyst” in describing the U.S.’s opportunity to host the 2031 tournament.
“I think to the extent people see the Men’s World Cup as a catalyst for the growth of men’s soccer here, the Women’s World Cup being here in 2031 is directly a catalyst for growth,” Berman told ESPN, referencing 1999 as an inflection point.
“The idea that we actually will have a thriving league going into it and coming out of it, no doubt should create and incredible amount of excitement for the future of the NWSL and we absolutely will capitalize on it.”
The UK submitted the only “valid bid” to host the 2035 Women’s World Cup, which will also now feature 48 teams.
Information from ESPN’s Jeff Kassouf was used in this report.
