January 20 – Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, nations bidding to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, will play in a tri-nations tournament in February to promote their hosting credentials.
The mini-tournament, to be played in Leuven, Aachen and Venlo, will unite the three countries bidding to stage the global finals in 2027 under the slogan ‘Three Nations. One Goal’.
In a statement Germany’s head coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg said: “This tournament is also a great joint statement for our application to host the Women’s World Cup in 2027. We want to once again clearly underline our ambitions for this important project, which will give women’s football in our countries enormous boost.”
The tournament will serve as preparation for the upcoming qualifiers for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Last year, the Antipodean bid won the hosting rights, seeing off competition from Colombia.
The bidding process for the 2027 Women’s World Cup hasn’t been opened officially yet, with world federation FIFA still to announce a timeline, but various nations have expressed interest in bidding for the tournament.
The Nordic block of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, 2023 bidders South Africa, Italy and Chile have all demonstrated potential interest in entering the race. Last October, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany came forward with their intention to jointly bid.
Germany hosted the 2011 Women’s World Cup whereas the Netherlands staged the 2017 Women’s European Championship. Belgium, however, has never organized a major women’s tournament.
Last week the US Soccer federation announced Brazil, Canada and Japan, will join the US team in Florida from February 18-24 for the sixth edition of the SheBelieves Cup.
All four teams are ranked in the World Top 10 while the US, Brazil and Japan are all champions of their confederations. All four have qualified for this Summer’s Olympic games in Tokyo.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1713628725labto1713628725ofdlr1713628725owedi1713628725sni@o1713628725fni1713628725