The deadline to submit an intent to bid on the 2019 Women's World Cup was Tuesday, but FIFA will not be releasing a list of which countries are in the mix.
Tuesday was the deadline for countries to submit their intent to bid for the 2019 Women’s World Cup, and it’s unclear exactly which countries submitted applications to FIFA.
South Korea confirmed its intent to bid for the tournament, and South Africa also reportedly wants the event.
South Africa already obtained the 2016 U-20 Women’s World Cup, which could serve as a prelude to the 2019 senior edition. The U-20 Women’s World Cup is typically played in the same country the year before the senior event – like Canada in 2014 and 2015 – so it’s highly unlikely South Africa would host in 2016 and then again in 2018. FIFA notes on its site that “if circumstances require, FIFA reserves the right to award the hosting of the events separately.”
Reached Tuesday, FIFA told The Equalizer that they would not be releasing a list of applicants at this time.
Rumored to be in the mix for bidding are Poland and Brazil, though both are unconfirmed. There was some chatter of an Australian bid as well, but there’s been no indication that the FFA is interested. Given that actual bids aren’t due — just letters of intent — it’s possible that several countries put their name in just to stay in the mix.
The deadline for delivery of the hosting agreement together with all the signed bidding documents is Oct. 31, with the final decision on the hosts currently scheduled to take place at the first FIFA Executive Committee meeting in 2015.
Sweden decided not to bid on the 2019 Women’s World Cup in order to focus on obtaining a U-17 Euro tournament and a U-17 Women’s World Cup.
As mentioned in the Swedish article, current World Cup champions Japan plan to bid on the 2023 Women’s World Cup, and it seems commonly accepted that they should win it.
That there’s even two confirmed bids for the 2019 World Cup from a pair of still-developing women’s soccer countries is encouraging. Canada ran practically unopposed in its bid for the 2015 World Cup. Zimbabwe was the only other known bid, and financial suspicions were confirmed when that country pulled out of the bidding process shortly before the tournament was awarded to Canada.
