The best note: how Brazil built its bid to host the 2027 Women’s Cup | soccer

There are 10 days left for the decision of the host country for the 2027 Women’s World Cup. On Tuesday, however, FIFA’s technical evaluation confirmed: Brazil’s candidacy has the highest score, with 4 out of 5 possible points – against the 3.7 of the joint proposal from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

But how was this project built?

Created by a mostly female team, the proposal has six pillars, stadiums as a legacy of the 2014 World Cup, the development of women’s football and Marta as host in an institutional video. The decision will be made on May 17th, in a public vote at the FIFA Congress, in Thailand.

Watch Brazil’s presentation video as a candidate to host the 2027 Women’s Cup

Signed in April 2023, Brazil’s candidacy foresees the World Cup being played between June 24 and July 25, 2027, with dates chosen to minimize extreme temperatures from North to South of the country. This is a World Cup with 32 countries and 64 matches to be played.

A decade after hosting the men’s World Cup, Brazil proposes using 10 of the stadiums from the last World Cup, some of them with reduced capacity. Only Arena das Dunas (Natal) and Arena da Baixada (Curitiba) were left out.

– This reduced capacity was a commercial issue in a study we carried out – explains Valesca Araujo, responsible for infrastructure planning and operations for the World Cup, during the Sports Summit event, in São Paulo.

– If not, we would have stadiums that did not fill up, as happened in 2014. For women, it will be with a reduced capacity that could increase or decrease according to the demand for tickets.

Compare the proposals

Valesca has worked with sports for around 20 to 30 years, since when he coordinated one of the Rio Centro pavilions at the Pan-American Games, and is part of the team responsible for putting together the proposal.

She says that for the World Cup they participated in a FIFA workshop, and it was necessary to prove hotel capacity, infrastructure, human rights issues and sustainability, in addition to understanding the size of what a Women’s Cup would be now.

– The Workshop brought details of what FIFA expects and after that we formatted the BID Book, with the number of hotels, training centers and guarantees from the Federal Government. We had tried in the previous cycle, there wasn’t much support, but this time the three spheres of government and Conmebol are supporting us – he says.

– It’s not just the Brazilian Cup, but the South American Cup. It will be the first time for a women’s event of this size in South America.

Technical notes for applications

1. April 2023: Signing of the official application
2. July 2023: Participation in the IDB Workshop during the World Cup in Australia
3. December 2023: Delivery of the Book and government guarantees to FIFA headquarters, in Switzerland.
4. February 2024: FIFA technical visit to proposed venues for evaluation.
5. May 2024: FIFA Congress and vote on the 2027 World Cup host.

The documentation was delivered on December 7 last year, and in February 2024 FIFA was in Brazil for four days for technical visits with experts. Visits to stadiums, but also to some training centers to be used in the competition.

36 cities were presented with CTs for the selections and refereeing teams, which are treated as a 33rd team in the competition. It has the same structure, exclusive field and dedicated team. Other places, in fact, can still be added to the list.

Brazil received better marks for stadiums, accommodation and venues for the FIFA Fan Festivalwhile the candidacy of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands had better evaluation in facilities for teams and referees and media centers.

Risk Assessments

As a representative of the proposal team, Valesca talks about Brazil’s passion for football and shows that they used numbers to prove it to FIFA. Between them:

1. 840,000 girls and women play football, and 7,000 compete in the sport.
2. Women’s football has tournaments in Series A1, A2 and A2 and for youth categories.
3. 40 games from the Brazilian Série A1 are broadcast on TV annually and the audience grew 225% between 2022 and 2023.
4. 42 thousand people watched the Brazilian Women’s 2023 final at Arena Corinthians.
5. 1,308% increase in audience between 7am and 10am on open TV during the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
6. 68 million Brazilians watched the 2023 World Cup on TV.
7. More than 7 million watched the Conmebol Libertadores Feminina streaming.

The brand used refers to the female form and the color of the water, which is present in the drops of sweat of the athletes, in the water they drink, in the irrigation on the field. It is a logo for the candidacy, not the event. If chosen as headquarters, therefore, a new identity is created.

The strategy is based on six pillars that propose to deliver an “environmentally, financially and socially sustainable” World Cup. Are they:

1. Brazil, a natural host: the experience and ready infrastructure from previous events.
2. Human legacy: offering programs to pave the way for the presence of women as leaders in sport, in Brazil and South America.
3. Development from base to high level
4. Sustainability as a strategy: position the event as a culmination of public policies for sustainable development.
5. Connecting with a new generation of fans
6. Women’s rights: promote discussions and concrete protection actions for players, coaches, journalists, workers, volunteers and fans.

Asked by the report about the operation of programs for women in leadership positions, Valesca Araujo explains that in 2014 there was an organizing committee set up by Brazil.

This time, a change by FIFA in the World Cup protocols determines that a subsidiary of the entity will carry out the organization. It is in this subsidiary team that Brazil intends to negotiate the presence of more women.

The stadiums, in turn, are part of the aforementioned ready infrastructure in Brazil. The committee received offers from other stadiums across the country, but restricted the choice to ready-made structures: the 10 Arenas used in the 2014 World Cup.

Adjustments indicated by FIFA will be necessary, but related to lighting and lawn maintenance, for example, in addition to VIP areas for guests.

• Mineirão: 66 thousand
• Mané Garrincha: 69 thousand
• Pantanal Arena: 42 thousand
• Castelão Arena: 57 thousand
• Arena da Amazônia: 42 thousand
• Beira-Rio Stadium: 49 thousand
• Arena Pernambuco: 45 thousand
• Maracanã: 79 thousand

Notes on Brazilian stadiums in the evaluation

Now, based on this data, Brazil is preparing for a final presentation to be made at the FIFA Congress. You will have 15 minutes to convince the council of the highest entity, in which you intend to mainly present the status of the World Cup as fundamental for the development to be made in women’s football in the country.

The Sports Summit event, which hosted the presentation about the World Cup, started on Tuesday and also hosted talks from the WSL, Atlético de Madrid, E-Sports and topics such as sustainability, women in sport, sponsorships, rights and sports betting. There are still panels on Wednesday and Thursday.

Candidacy for the 2027 Women’s Cup: FIFA visits Maracanã