Three Bids Qualify For FIFA Council Vote In Race To Host 2023 Women's World Cup

FIFA has confirmed three bids to host the Women's World Cup in 2023 have made it to the final stage of the process.

(More Football News)

Proposals from Japan and Colombia have qualified, as has a joint bid from Australia and New Zealand.

The FIFA Council will hold an online meeting and vote on June 25 to select the successful bid for a tournament that will involve 32 nations for the first time.

FIFA's update came "following a detailed assessment of the bid books and visits to the bidding countries", as they published their Bid Evaluation Report.

"Three bids will be submitted to the FIFA Council in order for it to select the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 host(s)," added a statement from the governing body on Wednesday.

FIFA ranked the Australia-New Zealand bid as the "most commercially favourable" and the highest scoring overall with 4.1 points out of five. 

Japan (3.9) and Colombia (2.8) were behind, but both were over the required threshold and proceed to the vote.

The United States won the last Women's World Cup, which was hosted by France in 2019.

FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura said: "One year after the record-breaking eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup in France, the FIFA Council will decide on the host(s) for the ninth edition of the tournament in 2023, which we hope will be even bigger and better. 

"The quality of the bids is testimony to the tremendous momentum women's football has generated.

"We are looking forward to building on this to take women's football to the next level at the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023."

Brazil withdrew their proposal on Monday and will instead join the other South American nations in backing Colombia.

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said the current economic situation, fuelled by the coronavirus pandemic, was one of the reasons for its withdrawal.

It added that it would also be unfavoured due to hosting several big events in recent years, including the 2014 World Cup, 2016 Olympics and 2019 Copa America.

South America has never hosted a Women's World Cup, while Asia has done so twice – in China in 1991 and 2007.