USA and Mexico announce joint bid for 2027 women’s World Cup

The USA would be hosting the event for the third time, while Mexico has never hosted

U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) announced that they have informed FIFA of their intention to submit a bid to co-host the 2027 women’s World Cup.

If successful, the joint USA-Mexico event would take place just one year after the USA, Mexico and Canada co-host the 2026 men’s World Cup, and one year before Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Olympics.

For the USA, it would be the third time hosting the women’s World Cup after 1999 and 2003, while Mexico has never hosted the event.

“The United States has always been a global leader for the women’s game, and we would be honored to co-host the world’s premier event for women’s soccer along with Mexico,” said U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone.

“Hosting the 2027 Women’s World Cup provides us an incredible opportunity to cap off two historic years of World Cup soccer in the CONCACAF region, helping us continue to grow the game among our confederation associations. A record six teams from CONCACAF will play in the Women’s World Cup this summer, and the United States and Mexico want to continue to push the envelope for the development of women’s soccer across the entire region.”

The joint U.S. Soccer-FMF announcement came on Wednesday, which was the deadline for FIFA member associations to submit their expressions of interest in hosting the 2027 World Cup. May 19 is the deadline to submit the Bidding Agreement, and the two federations said more information on the bid would be available then.

The host for the 2027 World Cup is expected to be named during the FIFA Congress on May 17, 2024.

There have so far been three other confirmed bids: a joint bid from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, as well as bids from South Africa and from Brazil.

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EA Sports outlines the future of its not-FIFA sports game series

EA Sports officially unveiled its FIFA successor, EA Sports FC, and outlined a bit of what to expect from the sports game in the summer

EA Sports officially unveiled its FIFA successor, EA Sports FC, and outlined a bit of what to expect from the sports game in the coming months. The EA Sports FC game will release on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC later in 2023. 

EA publicly ended its relationship with FIFA, reportedly after FIFA required EA to pay $1 billion to continue using the FIFA license.

EA will begin showcasing its new FC brand in upcoming matches around the world and plans to debut its first EA Sports FC game sometime later in 2023. FIFA plans to launch a rival “egame” in 2025, which is presumably just a video game.

EA Sports will continue its partnerships with Premier League, La Liga, and Ligue 1, among others, for the upcoming FC game. In keeping with an earlier promise to use the EA Sports platform to promote inclusion, the group is also actively forging new partnerships to spotlight women’s leagues, including collaborations with the WSL and NWSL. 

As for what to expect from the game itself, we’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out. EA said they’ll reveal more about EA Sports FC, including gameplay, sometime in July 2023 after the Summer Game Fest wraps up.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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FIFA keeps on taking away youth World Cup hosting rights

Peru is out as U-17 World Cup host, just one week after Indonesia was removed as U-20 host

FIFA has announced that Peru will no longer host the men’s U-17 World Cup this winter.

In a statement, the governing body said that “the move was made given the inability of the host country to fulfill its commitments to completing the infrastructure required to stage the tournament.”

FIFA said the tournament is still scheduled for November 10 to December 2 and that a new host would be appointed “in due course.”

The move comes just one week after FIFA also stripped away Indonesia’s hosting rights for the men’s U-20 World Cup.

FIFA did not specify why Indonesia was removed as host, but the move was widely believed to be related the country’s unwillingness to host Israel, which qualified for the U-20 men’s World Cup for the first time.

Argentina has made a formal bid to replace Indonesia as host of the tournament, which is still scheduled to kick off next month.

In 2019, FIFA picked both Indonesia and Peru to host the respective tournaments in 2021. Both tournaments were pushed back to 2023 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Argentina, which didn’t qualify for the U-20 World Cup, is very interested in hosting the U-20 World Cup

The Albiceleste could secure a sneaky qualification for the showpiece event

Argentina has made a formal bid to host the U-20 men’s World Cup, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Thursday.

The day before, FIFA removed Indonesia as the U-20 World Cup host amid an ongoing dispute over Israel’s participation in the tournament.

The governor of Bali had called for Israel to be banned from the tournament, while there were also protests from local religious groups. Israel has no formal diplomatic relations with Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

FIFA said that a new host would be confirmed as soon as possible and the tournament’s current dates of May 20-June 11 will be maintained.

Infantino was in Paraguay on Thursday ahead of the upcoming CONMEBOL Congress, and confirmed Argentina’s bid.

“We all know Argentine football and surely it can host a competition of this level,” Infantino told a news conference.

“There are other countries that have also announced interest but as a candidacy, with the government’s guarantees and other details, Argentina is the first and we will make the decision in two or three days,” he added.

Argentina could qualify through back door

Though hosting a major international tournament is always a big honor, Argentina may have an ulterior motive here too.

One month after their senior team captured the World Cup in Qatar, Argentina crashed out of qualifying for the U-20 World Cup. Should Argentina be chosen as host for the event, it would presumably give their U-20s a second chance at participating.

It’s unclear if Indonesia will still keep the spot in the U-20 World Cup they had secured by virtue of being the tournament host. That place could, in theory, instead go to whichever country steps up in their place.

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Is it bad when your director is banned worldwide by FIFA? Asking for Tottenham

It seems hard to be a director of football if you are banned from conducting any transfer business

FIFA has announced that Tottenham director of football Fabio Paratici’s 30-month ban in Italy is now in effect across the globe.

Paratici was handed the ban in January by Italy’s soccer federation (FIGC) amid his role in a scandal involving false transfer accounting that has seen Juventus given a 15-point penalty in the Serie A table.

After 11 years in the job, Paratici left his role as Juventus sporting director in 2021 to join Tottenham.

In a statement provided to multiple outlets, FIFA confirmed that Paratici’s ban in Italy is now worldwide.

“FIFA can confirm that following a request by the FIGC, the chairperson of FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided to extend the sanctions imposed by FIGC on several football officials to have worldwide effect,” the statement read.

Sky Sports said that as part of the ban, Paratici is unable to conduct any sort of transfer activity directly, including talking to agents or negotiating deals. These seem like fairly important things for a director of football to be able to do, so it’s not clear how tenable Paratici’s role is at present.

Paratici was also set to lead the search for a replacement for ex-manager Antonio Conte, who left Spurs this week by mutual consent.

Paratici can, however, attend internal meetings at Spurs. So he’s got that going for him, which is nice.

After the announcement by FIFA, Tottenham responded in a terse statement, saying: “This committee deliberation has been taken with no advance notice to any of the parties involved. We are urgently seeking further clarification from FIFA as to the details of the extension and its variance from the FIGC sanction.”

In any event, Paratici’s future may not be sorted until April 19, when an appeal will be held.

Should that appeal not go his way, Paratici’s tenure at Tottenham may end up being a pretty short one.

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FIFA pulls U-20 World Cup out of Indonesia amid Israel controversy

Bali’s governor had called for Israel to be banned from competing in the event

FIFA has announced that Indonesia has been stripped of hosting rights for the 2023 U-20 men’s World Cup, which is set to kick off in May.

The governing body said a new host would be appointed as soon as possible, with the dates of the tournament remaining unchanged.

FIFA’s decision came after Friday’s draw was cancelled amid Indonesia’s stance on Israel, which qualified for the tournament for the first time.

The Jakarta Post reported this month that Bali’s governor Wayan Koster had called for Israel to be forbidden from participating in the tournament. One of the six stadiums that was set to be used for the tournament is located in Bali.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, does not have formal diplomatic ties with Israel and supports the cause of Palestine.

Conservative Islamic groups led protests last week in Jakarta against Israel’s participation in the tournament.

Indonesians take part in a rally in Jakarta on March 20, 2023 to demand their government to reject the participation of Israel’s team in the upcoming 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which is to be hosted by Indonesia between May 20 and June 11. (Photo by ADEK BERRY / AFP)

FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Indonesian soccer federation president Erick Thohir met in Doha on Wednesday to try and work out a solution, but the two parties were unable to agree on a way forward.

“FIFA has decided, due to the current circumstances, to remove Indonesia as the host of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023,” a statement from the governing body read.

“Anew host will be announced as soon as possible, with the dates of the tournament currently remaining unchanged. Potential sanctions against the PSSI (Indonesia’s soccer federation) may also be decided at a later stage.”

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FIFA avoids own goal, Visit Saudi sponsorship of Women’s World Cup called off

FIFA just barely cleared a low bar, not that Infantino seems happy about it

A deeply unpopular choice from FIFA to bring Visit Saudi aboard as a 2023 World Cup sponsor is off.

At the FIFA Congress in Rwanda, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Thursday that the premier women’s soccer tournament on the planet would not be sponsored by the tourism board of a country that has been roundly criticized for laws restricting women’s freedom.

Among other cricitism, the rumored interest between FIFA and Visit Saudi was condemned by the federations of both host countries, and referred to as “bizarre” by U.S. women’s national team star Alex Morgan.

Infantino sought to downplay the entire episode, telling the FIFA Congress that while “there were discussions with Visit Saudi,” no contracts ever materialized. “It was a storm in a tea cup.”

Infantino tries to side-step issue

The FIFA president then pivoted to an unrelated point about how Australia and Saudi Arabia engage in trade, which is of course not the issue at hand.

“When it comes to Australia, they have trade with Saudi Arabia, $1.5 billion per year. This doesn’t seem to be a problem,” said Infantino. “FIFA is an organization made up of 211 countries. There is nothing wrong with taking sponsorships from Saudi Arabia, China, United States of America, Brazil, or India.”

Infantino kept digging, eventually concluding that everyone should just be happy and not yell at him or FIFA.

“This year we will have the Women’s World Cup. This should be a celebration of women, it has to be,” said Infantino. “And yet there’s this negativity which always comes out. Why is that? Why can we not try a little bit to focus on the positive?”

A solid enough answer to these rhetorical questions can be found from the tournament’s hosts. Football New Zealand released a statement applauding the choice to avoid a sponsorship backed by the government of a country whose “Personal Status Law” — which effectively enshrined a male guardianship system for women as Saudi law — was recently decried by Amnesty International.

“New Zealand Football welcome the confirmation from FIFA that Visit Saudi will not be sponsoring the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023,” read the NZF statement. “We believe it is critical for all commercial partnerships to align with the vision and values of the tournaments they are involved in.”

Football Australia chief executive James Johnson struck a similar chord in a statement published by Reuters.

“We welcome clarification from FIFA regarding Visit Saudi,” said Johnson. “Equality, diversity and inclusion are really deep commitments for Football Australia and we’ll continue to work hard with FIFA to ensure the Women’s World Cup is shaped in this light.”

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FIFA boosts women’s World Cup prize money, vows to equal men by 2027

There will be more than $150 million on offer in 2023, compared to just $30 million four years ago

FIFA has announced a major increase in prize money for the upcoming 2023 women’s World Cup, with president Gianni Infantino vowing to equal the men’s tournament by 2027.

There will be a $152 million fund available for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand this summer, the first women’s World Cup with 32 teams.

Of that amount, $110m will go to prize money, with the rest going to team preparation and payments to players’ clubs.

That represents a major increase from the $30m fund for the 24-team edition in 2019, but is also well short of the $440m total awarded for the 32-team men’s World Cup in 2022.

At the FIFA Congress in Rwanda, Infantino blamed the ongoing disparity on broadcasters who were not offering nearly as much for women’s World Cup rights as they did for the men’s tournament — echoing a similar complaint from October.

“Women deserve much, much more than that and we are there to fight for them and with them,” he said.

“Offer us 20% less, 50% less. But not 100% less,” Infantino added. “That’s why we can’t do it.”

Infantino also said FIFA would be offering equal conditions and services between the 2022 men’s World Cup and the women’s tournament in 2023.

“This will be a reality already for the Cup in 2023, same conditions as for the World Cup ’22 will be for the players and coaching staff in the women’s World Cup in ’23.”

Infantino, who was elected for another term as FIFA president after running unopposed, added that FIFA’s aim would be to have equal prize money between the 2026 men’s World Cup and the 2027 women’s World Cup.

That could be a tall order — not only because of the huge disparity in current prize money, but because the 2026 World Cup will have 48 teams while the 2027 World Cup will likely continue with 32 teams.

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EA Sports may finally be planning a women’s FUT

It looks like EA Sports may at last include a Women’s FUT version in the newest FIFA game – er, EA Sports FC game

It looks like EA Sports may, at last, include a Women’s FUT version in the newest FIFA game – er, EA Sports FC game, since EA and FIFA are no longer together. EA leakers have started saying with certainty that Women’s FUT mode is happening, and there may be more evidence than usual to back up the claims.

One indication is EA’s own commitment to acknowledging women’s sports in a more substantial fashion. In FIFA 23, EA added the National Women’s Soccer League and UEFA Women’s Champion League. The sports game also features The women’s Premier League and Ligue 1 team,though you can’t add any of the players to your FUT team, despite them being some of the highest-rated players in the game. 

EA also told GLHF in 2022 that they want to use their platform to promote inclusion and, ideally, lead the way for others to do the same. One step toward that goal was the team adding the women’s league to NHL’s Ultimate Team.

The publisher will also add a Women’s World Cup mode to FIFA 23 to coincide with the real-world event.

The current leaks suggest Women’s FUT will be a separate mode from the current FUT, so you apparently won’t be able to make a team of male and female players.

Whatever evidence might suggest Women’s FUT is on the way, it’s just a rumor until EA Sports says otherwise.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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FIFA comes to its senses, sticks with four-team groups for 2026 World Cup

FIFA avoided a problem that it was seemingly set to create for itself

FIFA has decided to retain four-team groups at the 2026 World Cup.

The FIFA council held votes on several major issues in Kigali, Rwanda, ahead of the 73rd FIFA Congress that begins on Thursday. Most notable among those decisions was a unanimous choice to maintain the group sizes at the men’s World Cup despite the tournament’s expansion.

FIFA has opted to let 48 teams contest the 2026 World Cup, easily the largest version of the tournament ever held. However, that expansion comes with some logistical problems: how do you winnow down the initial 48 to a number that is consistent with the knockout round format? The old approach, involving groups of four where the top two sides advance, would see 24 teams going through. There’s no path to a normal final that avoids an awkward fit somewhere along the way.

It had been largely expected that FIFA’s solution would be to shrink the groups themselves, with 16 three-team groups each sending two teams to a 32-team knockout round. That would allow for FIFA to keep the World Cup’s footprint on the calendar from growing despite the addition of 16 more teams.

That would be a departure from the four-team format that had held since the 1954 World Cup. After a bizarre experiment at that tournament saw teams play only two of their three group foes, FIFA instituted a more logical round-robin approach to each group in 1958 that has been in place ever since.

However, after the extraordinary drama in so many of the groups at November’s World Cup, FIFA had reason to reconsider. Three-team groups would conclude with one team in the stands or watching on TV; the thrills of following scores in two separate games being played simultaneously would be lost. The gripping spectacle that FIFA was so happy to have in the 2022 World Cup simply wouldn’t be possible.

On top of that, the schedule would be impossible to balance. For example, a team advancing to the knockout round while not having to play the final game in the group would have a major advantage in terms of rest days over an opponent who didn’t have that luxury.

As such, FIFA announced Tuesday that they’d follow a different course after what it called “a thorough review that considered sporting integrity, player welfare, team travel, commercial and sporting attractiveness, as well as team and fan experience.” FIFA added that “the revised format mitigates the risk of collusion and ensures that all the teams play a minimum of three matches, while providing balanced rest time between competing teams.”

The new version of the tournament will feature a whopping 104 total games, up from the 64 games needed to determine a winner in a 32-team World Cup.

How will the 2026 World Cup group stage work?

Unfortunately for FIFA, there’s no getting around the fact that a 48-team tournament will require an awkward choice somewhere along the lines.

FIFA’s choice is to return to a method used back when the tournament only had 24 teams: the top two sides in every group will go through, along with the eight best third-placed teams. Back in the day, that used to produce a 16-team knockout round comprised of six group winners, six runners-up, and the four best third-place sides.

In 2026, those numbers will all double: 12 group winners, 12 runners-up, and eight third-place sides will go into a 32-team knockout round.

Obviously that creates something of an imbalance. Most group winners will be paired with a third-place finisher, which implies an easier path forward. Four group winners will end up against a runner-up, though, and in all likelihood that will come down to the luck of the draw.

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