11/01/2025
SPORTS TOURISM:
The United States Soccer Federation formally shared its plans to co-host the 2031 Women’s World Cup with Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica, the federation announced Monday. It is set to be the largest Women’s World Cup, with 48 teams participating across the four countries.
The U.S. bid was the only one to confirm interest by the April 30 deadline.
“We already have tremendous excitement, as more than 30 U.S. cities have expressed interest in hosting matches,” U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone said Monday. “But what excites me most isn’t just putting on a world-class tournament. It’s the legacy we will create, because this Women’s World Cup will be equal in every sense of the word to a men’s World Cup, not just in the number of teams and matches, but equal in the quality of the facilities, with the same type of travel accommodations and support.”
U.S. Soccer and leaders from the partner federations unveiled their plans during a press event at the Solow Building in Manhattan. The announcement comes after FIFA announced in April that the United States and unnamed Concacaf partners were the sole bidders to host the competition. In May, the Mexican federation quietly revealed that Mexico also planned to co-host with the U.S. Concacaf is the governing confederation of teams located in North and Central America and the Caribbean.
“Concacaf fully supports this four-nation bid, which embodies our One Concacaf philosophy,” Concacaf president and FIFA vice president Victor Montagliani said. “Our confederation’s commitment to women’s football has never been stronger, and hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2031 will build on this momentum.”
The U.S. and Mexico initially pitched together as co-hosts for the 2027 Women’s World Cup before withdrawing to focus on 2031. When FIFA announced its plans for a 48-team competition, Parlow Cone said their vision shifted again — this time, to bring in more hosting partners.
If selected, the nations would host the largest Women’s World Cup, with an expanded 48 countries competing. The hosts will also get the longest lead time to prepare for the Women’s World Cup.
Though the bidders have a clear path to co-hosting the marquee event, with no opposing bids, hosts will be officially confirmed at the FIFA Congress on April 30, 2026, in Vancouver.
The U.S. last hosted the Women’s World Cup in 2003, nearly three decades ago. The country was a last-minute host after FIFA relocated the World Cup from China after a severe SARS outbreak.
The U.S. also hosted the competition in 1999, which is still considered a breakthrough moment for women’s soccer around the world. The U.S. took home its second of four World Cup titles and immortalized the 99ers roster in women’s soccer history.
“In 1999, our legacy was growing the women’s game here in the U.S.,” Parlow Cone, who played on the 1999 team, said. “In 2031, our legacy will be inspiring every country to embrace and invest in women’s soccer — not because it’s the right thing to do but because it’s the smart thing to do. It’s a smart investment. There is an extraordinary opportunity to grow the women’s game around the world.”
With 5 1/2 years to go, there’s still plenty we don’t know about the 2031 event. As we wait for May to arrive, The Athletic has pulled together some of what we do know.
2026 men’s World Cup provides test run
Although the U.S.-led bid is all but confirmed, as the only one confirmed last April, a formal bid book — typically hundreds of pages detailing everything from potential training sites to potential political complications — still needs to be submitted. It will be finalized over the next month and is due by Nov. 28.
Once submitted, FIFA evaluators will visit potential host cities and assess the bid, but that will be a formality. Before and after the Concacaf nations are officially confirmed as the hosts on April 30, FIFA and U.S. Soccer will work with potential host cities and negotiate specifics.
It’s unclear if cities will be asked to sign formal contracts before the bid is officially submitted, as they were back in 2018 when the U.S., Canada and Mexico sent in their 2026 men’s World Cup bid. What is clear, however, is that organizers plan to use the men’s World Cup next summer to inform their plans for 2031.
“We’re very fortunate in that we have a test run this coming summer on organizing a World Cup of 48 teams in multiple countries,” said JT Batson, U.S. Soccer’s CEO and secretary general. “We’re excited about using the post-’26 as an opportunity to come together with the host cities, countries and with FIFA to be able to outline the best approach for 2031.”
More than 30 U.S. cities want games
The host cities haven’t yet been named, but dozens are interested. In addition to the 11 U.S. markets hosting 2026 men’s World Cup games, others have attended workshops and reviewed documents.
Parlow Cone on Monday said more than 30 U.S. cities have expressed interest in hosting games. The number goes up to 40 with co-hosts, according to a U.S. Soccer spokesperson.
Monday, representatives from about 20 cities were in attendance at the 2031 bid unveiling, including Alex Lasry, CEO of FIFA World Cup 2026 NY/NJ host committee; Monica Paul, head of the Dallas 2026 World Cup host committee; and other leaders from 2026 host cities.
In June, Paul said Dallas and other cities had recently received documents related to hosting in 2031. Around a dozen cities will likely be chosen sometime in 2027 or later.
For the 2026 men’s tournament, cities were chosen in the summer of 2022.
What does the biggest World Cup mean?
2031 will be the first 48-team Women’s World Cup.
The tournament expanded to 32 teams in 2023 and will stay that size in 2027. In May, the FIFA Council confirmed the 48-team format for 2031, with 12 groups of four teams and 104 total matches.
This will also be the first time Costa Rica hosts a senior-level World Cup and the first time Mexico will host a FIFA-sanctioned Women’s World Cup. The decision to bring in more Concacaf partners was influenced by FIFA’s decision to expand the competition to 48 teams, Parlow Cone said.
“We wanted to make it bigger and include more countries throughout Concacaf, and wanted to work with them to pick which countries would be best suited,” Parlow Cone said. “The quality of teams, stadiums, infrastructure outside of stadiums, like hotels and training facilities, also went into the decision.”
U.S. Soccer focused on teams that would be competitive in the competition and with governments that would be supportive of hosting the Women’s World Cup.
Which stadiums will host games?
With dozens of cities interested, U.S. Soccer and FIFA will have options when selecting sites. Some cities could — and probably will — submit their NFL stadium and their soccer-specific stadium as potential venues for matches.
This will allow FIFA to hold knockout rounds and games involving popular teams, such as the U.S. women’s national team, in front of 70,000-plus fans. It will also allow FIFA to use smaller stadiums for matches involving less popular teams.
New York is a prime example of these options. The New York region is home to Sports Illustrated Stadium, home of the New York Red Bulls and Gotham FC, and the NFL’s MetLife Stadium. It will also soon have another soccer-specific stadium, with New York City FC’s Etihad Park opening in 2027.
“We want to make sure that there’s no difference in facilities from the men’s and women’s bid,” Lasry said. “I think MetLife will play a major role in this bid. How do they decide to divvy up the many facilities that we have across this region? I’ll leave that up to FIFA and U.S. Soccer. But we’re here to bring the World Cup back in 2031.”
In Costa Rica and Jamaica, meanwhile, national stadiums will presumably be involved. In Mexico, Estadio Azteca and others are candidates, but in a Monday interview with The Athletic, Mexican Football Federation president Mikel Arriola would not say which ones are likely hosts or how many games will be staged in Mexico. Much of that, he and others indicated, will be decided after the 2026 men’s World Cup
