It was announced on March 19, 2015, that France will be hosting the Women’s World Cup in 2019. France also won the bid to host the under-20 Women’s World Cup in 2018. The French Football Federation (FFF) went up against four other bids; England, Korea Republic, New Zealand, and South Africa. In October 2014, the FIFA executive committee decided the FFF and Korea Republic would be going head to head for the final bid.
The announcement was held in Zurich by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) President Blatter and FIFA Executive Committee member Lydia Nsekera. The decision of France hosting the next Women’s World Cup was made by a unanimous vote of the FIFA Executive Committee.
The FIFA committee looks at a bidding nation’s abilities to cover cost efficiencies, promotion, and their ability to use what resources they have available to them to be able to carry out a big sports event like the FIFA World Cup. They also look at a country’s potential to create an important message about the national football legacy around the world. The bidding nation must be able to show how they support the football community, how they are involved in the football community.
The FIFA declaration really brought a lot of excitement throughout the French community. French defender and captain, Wendie Renard stated, “This is a dream come true to play a World Cup at home. We all remember 1998. I want to feel these emotions again.”
Women’s France coach said, “This is a wonderful opportunity for the future. Several players are under 25, so they will be key elements in the squad in four years time. France will have a competitive team in 2019.”
The French community threw out multiple tweets and posts about the broadcast showing how ecstatic they were when they heard news about their country hosting the Women’s World Cup.
“Women’s football has grown up a lot in France over the past decade at every single level and we have increased the number of players a lot in the past five years,” said FFF President Noël Le Graët. “There is no doubt being granted these two competitions would give a huge boost to the development of women’s football in France.
This is the first time that France will host a Women’s World Cup.