The U.S. won’t host back-to-back World Cups after all

The U.S. and Mexico are withdrawing their bid to host the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, U.S. Soccer announced Monday.

Instead, the two nations will pursue a plan to host the 2031 Women’s World Cup in what U.S. Soccer said will be “a more equitable bid.”

The U.S. and Mexico are already hosting the 2026 World Cup with Canada. It will be the first time the tournament will be hosted by three countries.

U.S. Soccer said delaying their bid to host the women’s tournament will allow them more time to learn from the joint hosting of the 2026 tournament and how to properly support the host cities.

“Hosting a World Cup tournament is a huge undertaking — and having additional time to prepare allows us to maximize its impact across the globe,” U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone said in a statement.

The U.S. previously hosted the 1999 and 2003 Women’s World Cups.

How will the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup be more ‘equitable’?

The 2031 World Cup will call for the same level of investment as the Men’s World Cup, “eliminating investment disparities to fully maximize the commercial potential of the women’s tournament,” per the statement.

U.S. and Mexican leaders say they want it to be “a record-breaking tournament” and that they want to grow the tournament’s media deals and corporate partnerships.

“I’m proud of our commitment to provide equitable experiences for the players, fans and all our stakeholders,” Cone said. “Shifting our bid will enable us to host a record-breaking Women’s World Cup in 2031 that will help to grow and raise the level of the women’s game both here at home as well as across the globe.”

Who will host the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup?

Now that the U.S. and Mexico have withdrawn their bid, two hosting bids remain.

The hosting options are Brazil or a joint bid from the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, as the Deseret News previously reported.

If the tournament is awarded to Brazil, it would be the first time the FIFA Women’s World Cup has been played in South America, according to ESPN. Germany previously hosted the 2011 World Cup, but it would be a first for the Netherlands and Belgium.

When will the host for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup be announced?

FIFA will decide the host for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in a vote on May 17 in Thailand, ESPN reported.

The U.S. and Mexico won’t find out if their 2031 bid is successful until next year.