The Brazilian candidacy to host the Women’s World Cup 2027 received a higher score than its competitor, the European one, which has Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands in a joint project. The report was released this Tuesday (7) by FIFA, after experts from the entity visited the countries in recent months.
In practice, having the best evaluated proposal does not affect the decision of who will be the winner. The 211 associations affiliated to FIFA will vote on May 17, during the entity’s Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, to choose the venue for the competition. In theory, voters should be based on the report presented.
Brazil’s final score was 4, out of a maximum of 5. The Europeans got 3.7. The methodology used for scoring is complex, but infrastructure, security and government issues are assessed with the possibility of risk of having problems: low, medium and high.
Brazil had, in 18 items evaluated, low risk of problems in 15 and medium risk in three: facilities for Teams and referees, IBC location and socio-environmental protection.
The Europeans had two medium risks, in stadiums and legal aspects of government support documents. And a high risk, a point that is normally very important for FIFA management: the contractual framework. In practice, the governments of candidate countries in Europe did not commit 100% to competition.
FIFA requires, for example, several tax exemptions. The Government of Brazil signed all the necessary documents to hold the competition in the country, as it did for the Men’s World Cup in 2014. Another important aspect for the international federation, the commercial aspects, Brazil had a higher score: 4.5 against 4.
In theory, FIFA management should not be involved in choosing voting associations. But in practice, politics can decide which candidacy will be chosen. Some weeks ago, United States and Mexico, which had a joint project, withdrew to participate in the election and launched a candidacy for 2031. This helped the Brazilian project, as the more than 40 votes from Concacaf (Confederation of North and Central America) could go to Brazil.
In the Brazilian proposal, there are ten stadiums, in ten cities, that would host the games, all of which were present at the 2014 Men’s World Cup, which was held in the country.
The stadiums and cities are:
- Mineirão (Belo Horizonte)
- Beira-Rio (Porto Alegre)
- Mané Garrincha (Brasília)
- Pantanal Arena (Cuiabá)
- Amazon Arena (Manaus)
- Arena Fonte Nova (Salvador)
- Pernambuco Arena (Recife)
- Castelão Arena (Fortaleza)
- Maracanã (Rio)
- Neo Química Arena (São Paulo)
The main arguments of the project are that South America has never hosted a Women’s World Cup, Germany and the USA, for example, have already hosted, and that Brazil has all the infrastructure ready from 2014 to replicate in 2027.
The project
The CBF suggested in the proposal sent that the World Cup start on June 24, 2027, a Thursday, with the opening at Maracanã, in Rio, in a Brazilian team game in Group A. The final would be on July 25, in the same stage, a Sunday.
The entity indicated ten stadiums to host the World Cup games, but dozens of other CTs and smaller stadiums spread across Brazil for the training of the 31 teams that travel to the country for the competition. The 44 CTs or training camps were appointed in 37 different cities, in 12 states.
How will the vote be
In the early hours of May 17th, Brasília time, Brazil will know if it was chosen to be the headquarters of the world Cup Women’s football 2027. During the 74th FIFA Congress, in Bangkok, Thailand, the 211 member federations will vote on two candidacies. In addition to the Brazilian team, they compete in the joint Germany/Belgium/Netherlands.
The FIFA Council defined the criteria for voting. The election is the 11th item on Congress’s agenda, so it should take place in the early hours of May 17th in Brazil, late morning in Thailand. The event will start at 9am local time, 11pm (Brasília time) on May 16th.
Each candidate will have 15 minutes to present their project. Brazil will be the second to speak, with the Europeans opening. All member representatives will have received, a few days before, the reports produced by FIFA experts with notes for the proposals.
After the presentations, the election takes place electronically. The Council decided that the votes will be made public shortly after the result is announced.
The voting system is as follows:
- Whoever has the most votes will be chosen to host the 2027 World Cup.
- FIFA informed members, in a statement, that the decision is final, meaning there is no room for complaints or appeals.
- Shortly after the result is announced, FIFA will reveal which candidate each country voted for.
