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The United Kingdom is on track to host the 2035 Women’s World Cup after being the only “valid” bidder for the tournament, according to FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland submitted a joint expression of interest in March to stage the tournament across the home nations. Under FIFA’s rotation rules, the 2035 World Cup must be held in either Europe or Africa.
Last week, Spain’s federation president, Rafael Louzan, mentioned they were considering a joint bid with Portugal and Morocco.
However, with the deadline for bids passing on Monday, Infantino confirmed that only the UK had officially submitted a bid for 2035, while the United States is set to host the 2031 edition.
Infantino confirmed this at a UEFA congress in Belgrade, and stated below as quoted by the BBC:
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Today I can confirm as part of the bidding process that we received one bid for 2031 and one valid bid for 2035.
The 2031 bid is the United States of America and potentially some other Concacaf members, and the 2035 bid is from Europe and the home nations. So the path is there for the Women’s World Cup in 2031 and 2035 to take place in some great nations and further boost the women’s football movement.
England FA chief expresses excitement
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham expressed his excitement, saying:
We are honoured to be the sole bidder for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2035. The hard work starts now to put together the best possible bid by the end of the year.
Formal bids must be submitted this winter, with FIFA set to vote on the host in 2026. If confirmed, it will be the first Women’s World Cup held in the UK and the second World Cup in the home nations since the 1966 men’s tournament in England.