Cardiff could host Women’s World Cup games

Ted Peskett Local Democracy Reporter

Cardiff is putting together a bid to be one of the host cities at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2035.

Cardiff Council has published a report showing its intention to host football matches when the tournament, which is fast growing in popularity, comes to the UK.

Cabinet members at the local authority will be asked to agree to the signing of a host city agreement on Thursday, October 16.

If approved, a final bid will be submitted in November. A final decision on host cities isn’t expected until after FIFA has officially appointed the host country in April, 2026.

Operational manager at Invest in Cardiff, Jon Day, told councillors at an economy and culture scrutiny committee meeting on Wednesday, October 15, that the popularity of the Women’s World Cup was “something that’s grown massively in recent years”.

Benefit

England has twice hosted the Women’s Euros, but never has there been a major women’s tournament on the home turf of all four home nations.

The football associations of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland submitted a joint expression of interest to host the 2035 Women’s World Cup in March, 2025.

Shortly after, the UK was taken forward as the only country to have done so.

Attendance for the Women’s World Cup wasn’t much higher than about 1.25m in the 1990s.

However, this grew to 2m by the time the 2023 tournament was hosted in Australia and New Zealand. The figure is expected to be 3m and beyond in the years after 2031.

By being a host city, Cardiff could benefit from billions of pounds generated across the country through the tournament.

However, the cost of hosting the tournament would be split between the UK Government and host cities.

Confidential report

Details on how much hosting the tournament could cost Cardiff Council is enclosed within a confidential report.

The Welsh Government is expected to support Welsh host cities and Cardiff Council has requested a contribution toward its host city obligations.

The council’s commitment to signing the host city agreement will also be subject to confirmation of this support.

There are also unanswered questions around which stadium would be used if Cardiff is successful, how many games it would host, and where the ‘FIFA Fan Festival’ fan zoneswould be located.

A council report on Cardiff’s bid submission states these fan zones need to be near the city centre and need be able to accommodate about 10,000 spectators.

Other selection criteria that’ll be looked at by FIFA includes transport links, access to accommodation, adequate safety and security, and availability of volunteers.