TOKYO: Japan Football Assoc­iation president Tsuneyasu Miyamoto has said his country will consider bidding to host the 2039 Women’s World Cup after FIFA’s decision not to allow Asian nations to pitch for the rights to the 2031 or 2035 editions of the competition.

The game’s governing body announced last week that bids for the 2031 rights would be permitted from countries in Africa and Concacaf, the regional body governing the sport in North and Central America as well as the Caribbean.

With only African and European bidders being considered for the 2035 finals, the Japanese and other Asian federations wishing to organise the quadrennial event will have to wait until 2039.

“This is extremely disappointing news for us as we were aiming to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2031,” Miyamoto said in a statement. “However, regardless of this decision, there is no change to our intention to expand women’s football in Japan, increase the number of women playing football, and improve the level of competition.”

The Japanese co-hosted the 2002 edition of the men’s World Cup with South Korea but the country has never hosted the Women’s World Cup.

Japan’s women’s team, known as the Nadeshiko, has a strong track record on the international stage, winning the Women’s World Cup in 2011 before finishing as runners-up four years later.

The country also has an impressive record at youth level, reaching the final of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup at each of the last three tournaments.

“There is no doubt that we are on a good track now,” said Miyamoto. “With an eye on hosting the Women’s World Cup after 2039, we will continue to work to turn women’s national teams of all ages into teams that can compete to be the best in the world, and to improve the environment for women’s soccer all over the country.”

The next edition of the Women’s World Cup will be played in Brazil in 2027.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2025