March 14 – 2025 is a busy year for European women’s football. In addition to EURO 2025 in Switzerland, the race to host the following Women’s EURO, in 2029, is a high-profile affair, with Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Denmark/Sweden competing. This week they each submitted their preliminary bid to UEFA, ahead of final submission in August. The UEFA Executive Committee will decide on the hosts in December.
General Secretary of the German Football Association (DFB), Heike Ullrich, spoke exclusively to Insideworldfootball on the progress of the 2029 bid to date, and her hopes for the future of women’s football across Europe.
IWF: Heike, thank you for joining us. Exciting news this week with the preliminary submission of the bid dossier. Why is hosting the UEFA Women’s EURO 2029 a priority for the DFB?
HU: It’s exciting news indeed! Women’s football is deeply embedded in Germany’s footballing DNA. Over the past 50 years, we’ve seen some great players and teams come from this country, and we’re very proud of our own efforts to grow the game. At the same time, we know that there is so much more potential, in Germany and across Europe.
With UEFA’s women’s football strategy, Unstoppable, we have an incredibly strong roadmap for the future. It is very ambitious, with the goal of making women’s football fully self-sustainable by 2030. To achieve this, we need a Women’s EURO 2029 that generates record revenues, elevates the sporting product, and increases visibility and opportunities for women in football across Europe. We feel we are best positioned to organise a tournament that delivers across all three areas.
IWF: One of the early promises that the bid has made is that the tournament will be the first UEFA Women’s EURO to sell over 1 million tickets. This compares to approximately 575,000 in England for EURO 2022. What gives you confidence in achieving this big figure?
HU: It is an ambitious target, but also a very realistic one. First of all, we have the support of a fantastic range of stadiums, among the very best in the world, with the largest capacities in the history of the tournament. Our list of proposed stadiums for the Women’s EURO 2029 is on the same level as what would be offered for a UEFA men’s EURO. And that is how it should be.
Secondly, Germany has tremendous support for women’s football. According to our research, more than 18 million people have a strong interest in the women’s game. We have approximately 150,000 active female players, and more than 1.4 million female club members. This provides a great foundation to drive record attendances.
We also want this Women’s EURO to be about unity across Europe, not just in Germany. Our location is helpful in attracting many visiting fans, with over 200 million people within a two-hour travel radius of Germany. Our host cities, from Berlin to Wolfsburg, all have the infrastructure and culture to welcome people from all over the world and create a great festival atmosphere. We’re very confident of attracting record visitors and giving them the experience of a lifetime.
IWF: Germany has a very strong tradition in women’s football. How do you assess the current status of German women’s football in comparison to others?
HU: We think we’re in a great place. Across Europe, we have seen a big increase in interest in women’s football, from grassroots to elite level, and in Germany this is no different. A big part of this, for us, is our league, the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga.
We’ve really invested in this and have seen the results, with attendance figures rising over 250% since the 2021-22 season. The upcoming 2025-26 season will see the league expand from 12 to 14 teams, and further development is planned to enhance the league’s profile. Our grassroots system remains one of Europe’s strongest, with thousands of young girls playing football and having clear pathways to nurture talent.
The DFB’s women’s football strategy – FF27 – prioritises increasing visibility and leadership opportunities on and off the field. We have clear targets to double the media reach of women’s football and achieve at least 30% female representation in leadership roles within the DFB.
On an international level, we are well-aware that competition is stronger than ever. We welcome this, because this is how European women’s football as a whole gets stronger. Continuing this growth, among big and small nations, is a key pillar of our plans to host the Women’s EURO2029.
IWF: Across Europe, what are the main opportunities and challenges you see for women’s football in Europe?
HU: This is a very important time for the development of women’s football. We’ve made significant progress in the last decade, but now is the time to ensure this progress is not lost and is only the beginning. UEFA’s goal to make women’s football a sustainable ecosystem is absolutely right, and this requires a lot of effort.
Fundamentally, women’s football needs to continue to attract and increase revenues. We think that the Women’s EURO 2029 must be the most commercially successful edition yet, with new records for sponsorship, broadcast revenues, and matchday engagement.
We must also continue advancing the on-field product. That means getting even more girls playing football from an early age, strengthening player pathways to keep them in the game, and providing support to ensure they can have long careers. We also need to elevate women’s football off the pitch, as well as on it. We must work hard to get fair coverage of the women’s game, and continue to push female involvement in football, whether it be coaches and referees or managers and CEOs.
Importantly, this will only work if we work together, across Europe. As UEFA National Associations, we must learn from each other, no matter the size of our countries, and focus on increasing our overall potential. This is the philosophy behind our bid to host the Women’s EURO 2029, and explains our slogan, Together WE Rise.
IWF: In the middle of the bid campaign will of course be the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025. What are you most looking forward to at this event and how do you rate Germany’s chances?
HU: UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 is shaping up to be a fantastic tournament. Switzerland is doing an excellent job preparing for it. The level of competition in women’s football has never been higher, and that will make for an incredibly exciting spectacle. We can’t wait.
As for Germany’s chances, we are very proud of our current team and always hope for the best. There are so many teams capable of winning the tournament, which is exactly what makes it such a compelling event.
Regardless of the outcome, I have no doubt the Women’s EURO 2025 will be another milestone for women’s football in Europe, and we are excited to be a part of that journey — both as a competing nation and as a candidate to host the next edition in 2029.
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