Morocco has secured the hosting rights for all five consecutive, annual FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup competitions to be held in 2025-2029, marking an unprecedented achievement in African global sports and a boost to women’s football in the region, the world football governing body FIFA announced on Thursday.
Held biannually since 2008, the competition has expanded over the years from 16 to 24 participating teams and will now be held annually starting in 2025. Morocco will host each annual tournament from 2025 to 2029, the first African country ever to do so.
FIFA also selected Qatar to host the men’s equivalent of the competition during the same years.
FIFA’s selection of the two countries followed a global call for bids to host the competitions, with the goal of improving the tournament’s efficiency and sustainability by using existing football infrastructure, the organization stated in a press release.
The FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup has been hosted in seven different countries over the years. The most successful nations in the tournament’s history were North Korea, which won in 2008 and 2016, and Spain, which triumphed in 2018 and 2022.
Following the announcement, FIFA President Gianni Infantino expressed confidence in Morocco’s ability to deliver inspiring tournaments while praising the country’s soccer strength.
“Football in this beautiful country has gone from strength to strength in recent years and I believe hosting the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup over five years will inspire so many more girls – and boys – to take up football in the country,” he posted on Instagram yesterday.” ”As it is the first time this tournament is coming to Africa, that inspiration will spread right across the continent.”
Added to this feat, thanks to its prominent infrastructure and organizational capacity, Morocco is slated to stage the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and has also acquired the hosting rights for the 2030 World Cup along with Spain and Portugal.