February 9 – With exactly 500 days to go until the Women’s World Cup kicks off in Brazil, FIFA has shifted focus to building the narrative of the competition, unveiling a host-city artwork project designed to anchor the event in local culture.
The milestone comes a month after FIFA launched the competition’s brand identity in Rio de Janeiro, revealing the Official Emblem, Sonic Identity and slogan ‘Go Epic’.
That campaign aims to position the tournament at a cultural and sporting crossroads, drawing on the Brazilian flag, pitch geometry and bilingual wordplay.
The latest activation builds on that approach – eight Brazilian female artists were commissioned to produce illustrations for each Host City, with four artworks created per location.
The designs were unveiled through a street art festival on Rio’s Avenida Atlântica, in an effort to push the tournament’s emphasis on accessibility, inclusion and local expression.
The Host City illustrations represent Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and São Paulo – all of which will stage matches when the expanded 32-team tournament runs starts June 24, 2027.
By foregrounding local creators and street culture, FIFA are seeking early emotional buy-in from domestic audiences who have traditionally failed to engage with the women’s game in Brazil. At the same time they are helping build distinctive Host City identities that can be leveraged across marketing, tourism and sponsor activations.
Several artists spoke about embedding city-specific references into their work – the recurring theme being football as a shared public experience rather than a closed stadium product.
From a delivery perspective, the 500-day marks a transition from brand-setting to operational planning. Tournament offices are now open in Rio, and the next major milestone will be the publication of the match schedule, which will unlock the ticketing phase, tourism and partner planning.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at [email protected]