2015 FIFA Women's World Cup

Canada to host the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup!
by Michele Walker, SIRC

It was officially announced today that Canada will be hosting the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and now six cities across the nation will start the preparations to host this massive soccer event. Seven cities are actually currently on the list as hosts, and one of them will need to be dropped following the site evaluation visits. They are Vancouver, Montreal, Halifax, Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Moncton. This announcement also means that Canada will now host the 2014 Women's Under-20 World Cup as a test event.

The announcement was actually expected after Zimbabwe, the only other country vying to host the quadrennial event, pulled out just a few days ago citing that they did not have the bandwidth to hold this tournament to the standards expected. But still, Canada had to wait until the evaluation was completed before FIFA , the world governing body of football (soccer), could award the event to the Canadian Soccer Association.

Held every four years, the first Women's World Cup tournament was held in 1991 (in China), 61 years after the Men's first FIFA World Cup tournament in 1930. The current format for women has 16 teams but the 2015 tournament will see the field expand to 24 competing nations – truly a testament to the global popularity of the women’s game. As host, Canadians, old and new, will benefit from the legacy the sport will leave behind, both from a venue and participation standpoint.

Canada successfully and previously hosted the inaugural Women's Under-20 World Cup in 2002, as well as the Men's Under-17 World Cup (in 1987) and the Men's Under-20 World Cup (in 2007).

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Photo Credit: Beata Tyrala