The prospect of the home nations joining forces to bid for a future men’s World Cup has been floated by chief executive of the Football Association of Wales Noel Mooney.
He said it would be a natural progression following the successful joint bid between Northern Ireland (although it will not host any matches with redevelopment plans for Casement Park in Belfast on hold), Wales, England and Scotland to stage the 2028 men’s European Championship and them recently also coming together to lodge an expression of interest to host the women’s World Cup in 2035.
Euro 2028 will see six matches in Wales at the Principality Stadium, including the opening game of the tournament. An economic assessment has concluded that for every £1 invested the tournament will generate a three times economic return.
World governing body Fifa will reveal bidders for the women’s World Cups in 2031 and 2035 (the later which will be limited to Europe and Africa) at its next congress in Paraguay in May. If there is a competitive process, where a possible bid could come from South Africa, a decision on the winner for 2035 will be made in 2026. However, if there is no other interest a bid from the home nations would effectively be endorsed in May.
If the home nations are successful the stadia hosting capacity will be a minimum of 20,000. The Cardiff City and Swansea stadiums, along with the Principality Stadium, already have that level.
Home of Wrexham, the Racecourse, could also reach the required level well before 2035. Mr Mooney said the stadia for a 2035 bid has yet to be agreed by the home nations.
He added: “There are a few permutations for us and we are lucky in that we have four stadia that would really work for us, and that includes Wrexham which gives them the impetus (to get to required capacity), but not that they need any.
"They recently secured planning on the new Kop stand development which will be built by 2026 and will bring capacity to around 16,000. They would then have time to build the stadium up to the minimum requirement of 20,000, which they could go well beyond.
"We have the Cardiff City stadium and Swansea, where their American owners are very much into women’s football so I think they would love to host it, and then you have got the Principality Stadium as well.
“You could look at north and south for example. Some people think we can be a bit Cardiff or southern centric, which I don’t believe that we are at all. You could argue it would be nice to have some in north and south Wales, but we don’t know at this stage.”
The FAW will also discover in May whether its bid for the Principality Stadium to host the women’s Champions League Final in 2027 is successful.
The chief executive said: “If it is the Principality I am sure we could fill it with 70,000-plus people watching a women’s football match in Wales, which would be a record attendance for a women’s game here.”
While not formally discussed Mr Mooney said that any future joint bid from the home nations for a men’s World Cup would be compelling.
Irishman Mr Mooney said: “We haven’t discussed it, but I think it would be much better to go with a Ƶ-wide bid. There are different tones that we would all bring to it and believe it is much better when we are together. And that is definitely the case with Euro 2028 and what we are now doing with the women’s World Cup 2035. So, it sets it up pretty well for another joint bid (men’s World Cup) at a later time.”
However, with Spain and Portugal hosting the World Cup in 2030, alongside Morocco, it might not be until 2042 that Europe will be able to host the tournament again.
With Northern Ireland not being a venue for Euro 2028, as originally intended, it is expected to lose its fall back position of two automatic qualification spots for the home nations.
While it will remain a partner to the tournament, in the event of say England qualifying it would leave Wales and Scotland both with guaranteed qualification even if they both fail to come through their respective qualification groups.
However, with the Republic of Ireland hosting games at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, the Football Association of Ireland could potentially make a case to effectively take on the automatic potential route that was afforded to Northern Ireland. European governing body Uefa have yet to make a decision.
If the home nations are successful in a bid for the women’s World Cup in 2035 the capacity of Windsor Park in Belfast will need to be increased by around 1,500, which could be achieved with temporary provision.
On the economic impact of a women’s World Cup for 2035, Mr Mooney said: “The assessment for 2028 worked out very well with a £3 return on investment for every £1 spent. An economic impact assessment for 2035 would probably be undertaken by the Treasury (Ƶ Government) and we could do a version here (Wales) too. However, it would show up very well in terms of the economic impact for the Welsh economy and that of the Ƶ as a whole.”
Cardiff Council said that hosting matches for the 2035 women’s World Cup in the city would provide another significant boost following on from hosting Euro 28 games.
Councillor Jennifer Burke, Cardiff Council’s cabinet member for Culture, Parks and Events, said: “I’m fully behind Cardiff playing a part in hosting the 2035 tournament, but any talks on this are yet to happen. It’s purely an expression of interest by the various football associations at this point. While it is still early days, this potential bid could significantly boost the women’s game in Wales and deliver an event which would benefit the city economically.
“We’ve already witnessed the incredible growth and success of women’s football here over the past years, especially with our national team securing a spot in their first major tournament at the upcoming Euros in Switzerland this summer. Offering our passionate fans the opportunity to cheer for their team on home soil, at one of the sport’s most prestigious events would be amazing.
“Everyone knows Cardiff has a proven track record as a premier events city, having successfully hosted the UEFA Champions League Final, Six Nations rugby matches, and the Volvo Ocean Race. Looking ahead, we are excited to welcome the Investec Champions Cup Final and major concerts by artists like Kendrick Lamar and SZA. Hosting the 2035 tournament would further cement Cardiff’s reputation as a dynamic and welcoming city, which is more than capable of delivering world-class events.”
First Minister Eluned Morgan said "Women’s football is flourishing in Wales, following our team’s qualification for their first major tournament at the Euros in Switzerland this summer.
“I fully support the Ƶ’s ambition to host the 2035 tournament, which will grow the women’s game in Wales even further by giving Welsh fans the chance to support their team closer to home, on the biggest stage.”
Next year Wales will host Uefa’s under-19 (men’s) Euro tournament.
Mr Mooney said: “We are investing £4m in facilities and getting stadia ready all across North Wales. So, in Denbigh, Caernarfon, Rhyl, Bangor and all these places. There will be eight teams competing, with Wales definitely in it against seven other top teams in Europe. It will be a very good test for them (Welsh team) and a couple of the players could well figure in Euro 2028 (senior team) where the opening game will be in Cardiff at the Principality Stadium.”
