South Africa has decided to submit its bid to host the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. This desire of the authorities in charge of the king sport in the country, is to allow the African continent to host for the very first time this event of great scale.
Since the first edition of the World Football Cup in 1930, it is only in 2010 that the choice was made to honor the African continent. And so far, South Africa is the first and only country on the continent to host the men’s World Cup.
“The National Executive Committee (NEC) has decided that we should bid to host the Women’s World Cup in 2027,” said Tebogo Motlanthe, chief executive of the South African Football Association (Safa). He also said that the South African administration will formally inform FIFA and subsequently begin the process of organizing the World Cup.
South Africa’s challengers
South Africa is not the first country to aspire to the title of host of the 2027 Women’s World Cup. Long before it, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany launched a joint bid for the 2027 competition almost two years ago. One bid will be among the main rivals of the South African proposal.
A joint Scandinavian bid has also been mooted, but with Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden bidding together to host the 2025 European Championship, the continental tournament could take priority.
The United States for their part, had also expressed in the meantime their willingness to apply for the World Cup in 2027 or 2031.
For the record, the South African Football Association (Safa) was in the running to host the 2023 World Cup. But she finally withdrew to focus on the development of the women’s national league.
South Africa’s bad adventure in 2019
At the 2019 World Cup held in France, the South African women’s team suffered a major setback. Banyana Banyana were eliminated in the group stage in their first participation.
On the African continent, they managed to win and became African champion for the first time last July. The Banyana Banyana had beaten Morocco in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations for Women in Rabat.
It must be said that of all the continents, Africa and South America are still the only populated continents that have never organized a Women’s World Cup.
