2035 FIFA Women's World Cup
Upcoming edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup
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The 2035 FIFA Women's World Cup is scheduled to be the 12th edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's football championship contested by the national teams that represent the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will be hosted by four Home Nations of the United Kingdom: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as they are the sole bidders.[1] This will be the second tournament to feature 48 national teams.
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales |
| Dates | 2035 |
| Teams | 48 (from 6 confederations) |
← 2031 2039 → | |
The tournament will be the first time that England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales host the FIFA Women's World Cup, and also be the fourth in Europe after Sweden in 1995, Germany in 2011, and France in 2019. England will also become the eighth country to host both the men's and women's World Cup, having hosted the former in 1966. It is also the first FIFA tournament to be held in Northern Ireland and Wales, and the second to be held in Scotland since 1989.
Host selection
The host nation for the 2031 Women's World Cup is scheduled to be officially decided by the tenth extraordinary FIFA Congress on 23 November 2026 in Zürich, two years after the host selection for the 2027 edition.[2][3] On 5 March 2025 the FIFA Council approved the bid regulations which restricted bids to UEFA and CAF members.[4] The key dates include:[5]
- 31 March 2025: Member associations to submit their expressions of interest to host the 2031 and 2035 Women's World Cup
- 30 April 2025: Member associations to confirm their interest in bidding to host the Women's World Cup by submitting the bidding agreement
- Q2 2025: Bid workshop and observer programme to take place
- 28 November 2025: Member associations to submit their bids to FIFA
- February 2026: FIFA to organise on-site inspection visits to bidding countries
- March 2026: Publication of FIFA's bid evaluation report
- 2nd quarter: Designation of bids by the FIFA Council
- 23 November 2026: Appointment of the 2031 and 2035 Women's World Cup host(s) by the tenth extraordinary FIFA Congress in Zürich, Switzerland.
Although the host nation has not been confirmed, the submitted sole bid was unveiled.[6] On 3 April 2025, FIFA announced that the United Kingdom home nations bid was the only valid bid.[7]
Format
The 2035 FIFA Women's World Cup will be contested by 48 teams as part of an expansion starting with the 2031 edition.[8]
Venues
In its hosting requirements document, FIFA stipulated that the 32-team competition will have a minimum of eight stadiums—of which at least five were existing venues. The stadiums would have minimum seating capacities of 20,000 for most matches, 40,000 for semifinal matches, and 65,000 for the opening match and final.[9] However, additional changes will be made to accommodate the expansion to 48. Manchester United have expressed interest in hosting this final[10] in their yet-to-be built 100,000 seater stadium, though reports have indicated the FA prefers Wembley Stadium. Other interested cities currently include Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham, Sunderland, and Wrexham.[11][12][13]
No venue in Northern Ireland currently meets the minimum capacity requirement, with the largest existing stadium, Windsor Park, having only 18,500 capacity. Plans for the redevelopment of Casement Park into a 34,500 capacity venue for the UEFA Euro 2028 were stalled and resulted in Northern Ireland withdrawing from hosting the tournament.[14][15]
On 28 November 2025, the formal bid submission proposed 22 venues in 16 cities, including some planned and provisional stadiums. It's not known yet how many venues will be used for the tournament. The bid submission also highlights that 63 million people live within two hours of any proposed venue.[16][17]
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Teams
Qualification
FIFA's confederations organise their own qualifying competitions, with the exception of CAF and CONCACAF which qualify teams through continental championships. The hosts England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland receive automatic qualification for the tournament, leaving most of the remaining FIFA member associations eligible to enter qualification if they chose to do so. Wales and Northern Ireland will participate for the first time ever, but may still qualify for 2027 or 2031.
The allocation of slots below was announced by the FIFA Council in April 2025. The slot for the host nation will be taken directly from the quotas allocated to their confederation.
Qualified teams
| Team | Qualified as | Qualification date | Appearance in finals |
Last appearance |
Consecutive streak |
Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 England | Co-hosts | 3 April 2025[c] | 7th/8th/9th | 2023/2027/2031 | 1/2/8 | Runners-up (2023) |
 Northern Ireland | 1st/2nd/3rd | None/2027/2031 | 1/2/3 | Debut | ||
 Scotland | 2nd/3rd/4th | 2019/2027/2031 | 1/2/3 | Group stage (2019) | ||
 Wales | 1st/2nd/3rd | None/2027/2031 | 1/2/3 | Debut |
Marketing
Broadcasting
Notes
- Provisional, may switch to New Trafford Stadium.
- On 3 April 2025, FIFA announced that the England–Northern Ireland–Scotland–Wales bid was the only valid bid, however, the official host will be officially appointed on 23 November 2026.