02 Aug 2019
FIFA to expand Women's World Cup to 32 teams
BY Tom Walker
The success of the recent Women's World cup – and the resulting increase in interest in women's football – has led the world governing body FIFA to expand the number of teams taking part in the tournament from 24 to 32.
The change will take place immediately, meaning that the next tournament – in 2023 – will follow the new, enlarged format.
“The astounding success of this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in France made it very clear that this is the time to keep the momentum going and take concrete steps to foster the growth of women’s football," said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
“The expansion reaches far beyond the eight additional participating teams; it means that, from now on, dozens of more member associations will organise their women’s football programme knowing they have a realistic chance of qualifying.
"The FIFA Women’s World Cup is the most powerful trigger for the professionalisation of the women’s game, but it comes but once every four years and is only the top of a much greater pyramid.
"In the meantime, we all have a duty to do the groundwork and strengthen women’s football development infrastructure across all confederations."
The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup has been described as a "watershed moment" for women's football and broke a number of viewing records.
In the US, the final – which featured the US and the Netherlands – achieved a combined audience of 15.277 million viewers, the highest audience of the weekend on US television.
In the UK, the final attracted an average audience of 3.248 million viewers, bringing BBC1 an impressive 31.5 cent share of viewing. It became most-watched FIFA Women’s World Cup Final on record in the UK.
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