FIFA on Monday announced that the Belgian Football Association has expressed interest in hosting the 2023 edition of the women’s World Cup.
This was contained in a statement by the football world governing body on its website.
FIFA said Belgium’s decision follows the FIFA Council agreement to increase the number of participating teams for the 2023 event from 24 to 32.
Other countries that earlier showed interest were Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and South Korea which is interested in a joint bid with its North Korean counterpart.
The statement read in part, “Following the unanimous decision by the FIFA Council to increase the number of teams taking part in the FIFA Women’s World Cup from 24 to 32 as of 2023 and the subsequent reopening of the bidding process for that year’s edition of the competition, FIFA has received an additional expression of interest from the Belgian Football Association.
“This means that a total of ten member associations have expressed interest in hosting the event – an unprecedented number.”
“All ten MAs (member associations) have received the overview of the bidding process (including updated high-level hosting requirements) and will have until Sept. 2, 2019 to confirm their participation.