Women's World Cup 2023: Australia and New Zealand win vote
June 25, 2020
In a landslide victory, Australia and New Zealand have won the bid to host the 2023 Women's World Cup.
They were chosen over sole competitors Colombia following a FIFA Council vote on Thursday afternoon (CEST).
It concluded a nervy 24 hours for officials, players, and fans after rumors that Colombia had received a late swell of support from UEFA's members.
But in the end, Australia and New Zealand's high-scoring performance in FIFA's official evaluation report pushed them ahead in the pecking order.
Boom expected
Public and government backing for hosting the World Cup was considerably high, with more than 800,000 people signing up to a campaign to voice their support, while the country's iconic Sydney Opera House was illuminated on the eve of the vote.
Hosting the tournament is expected to give football - both the women's and men's game - a massive boost in both countries. Currently cricket and other football codes (such as rugby union and Australian rules football) lie ahead in terms of popularity.
Almost 10 years ago, Australia had attempted to win the rights to the men's 2022 World Cup, but were embarrassed in their loss to Qatar, winning just one solitary vote.
Football Federation Australia clearly learned from their past experience, putting together a strong bid together with New Zealand that convinced the majority of FIFA Council members to hand them hosting rights.
Landslide win
The co-hosts were heavy favorites heading into the vote. They were handed a massive boost after competing bids from Brazil and Japan withdrew from the running earlier in the month. Combined with a strong rating in FIFA's official technical report, where their score of 4.1 far eclipsed Colombia's 2.8, the vote appeared to be a straight forward affair.
But rumors of a late upset flooded media and social channels in the final 24 hours, with reports suggesting Colombia had won the support of the UEFA voting bloc.
When the votes were tallied, however, the co-hosts sealed a 22-13 victory to hand a historic opportunity to Australian and New Zealand football.
Heartbreak for Colombia
The Colombian bid had hoped that FIFA's ambition to grow women's football in South America would help its cause.
Colombia had, for a time, been a frontrunner in promoting the women's game after setting up Latin America's first professional women's league in 2017 and qualifying for two successive World Cups (2011 and 2015) and two Olympic Games (2012 and 2016).
But the state of women's football has regressed in recent years amid accusations of discrimination. Las Cafeteras failed to qualify for last year's World Cup in France and the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
Colombia international Orianica Velasquez said the country's players deserved had deserved the opportunity.
"We have great talent and our players have worked hard to get Colombia into different tournaments around the world, even without a solid professional league," she said.