FIFA Women's World Cup: a unanimous vote to increase the number of teams from 32 to 48 from 2031

The FIFA Women's World Cup will feature 48 national teams from the 2031 edition, compared to 32 for the 2023 edition (in New Zealand and Australia) and the 2027 edition (to be held in Brazil), according to a unanimous decision by the FIFA Council, which met by video conference on 09/05/2025.

This decision was taken "after consultation with the confederations and other stakeholders, and given the remarkable recent strides made by women's football across the world". The 2031 edition of the competition is expected to be hosted by the United States, as US Soccer is the only federation to have submitted "a bid agreement" to FIFA on 30/04/2025.

The Women's World Cup 2031 will therefore be the first edition with as many national teams taking part in the final phase, following a 12-team format in 1991 and 1995, 16 in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011, 24 in 2015 and 2019 (held in France) and 32 in 2023 and 2027 (in Brazil).

The 48-team format will comprise 12 groups of four for a total of 104 matches over the competition as a whole, compared with 64 at present, and will last one week longer. "The…