United Kingdom Likely To Host FIFA Women's World Cup 2035

The United Kingdom is almost set to host the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The development comes after Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, described its interest as the “one valid bid” for those finals.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland joined forces with the English Football Association last month and submitted a joint expression of interest in hosting the finals in 10 years’ time.

The deadline for initial expressions of interest passed on Monday and, although Spain’s federation president, Rafael Louzán, last week announced his country’s intention to bid alongside Portugal and Morocco, Infantino indicated the UK bid was the only one being considered.

The three countries which previously expressed a desire to host on a joint basis, withdrew from the running. This meant that there was no real competition for the 2035 tournament and the UK remained as the sole valid bidder.

“We received one bid for 2031 and one bid – one valid bid I should add – for 2035,” Infantino said at the UEFA Congress in Belgrade.

“The 2035 bid is from Europe, from the home nations.”

The 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup is scheduled to be the 12th edition of the tournament. It is a quadrennial international women’s football championship contested by the multiple national teams that represent the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will feature 32 or 48 national teams for the coveted trophy.

United Kingdom Likely To Host FIFA Women's World Cup 2035 — Image: Hannah McKay

Key dates for the selection of the FIFA Women’s World Cup host

5 April 2025: Member associations to submit their expressions of interest to host the 2031 and 2035 Women’s World Cup
5 May 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
Q4 2025: Member associations to submit their bids to FIFA
February 2026: FIFA to organise on-site inspection visits to bidding countries
May 2026: Publication of FIFA’s bid evaluation report
2nd quarter: Designation of bids by the FIFA Council
Q2 2026: Appointment of the 2031 and 2035 Women’s World Cup host(s) by the FIFA Congress in TBD.