December 5 – The women’s World Cup will expand its field from 16 to 24 teams for the 2015 tournament, FIFA has announced.
The 2011 event, to be contested in Germany, will have 16 teams, as was the case in 1999, 2003 and 2007.
Germany won the 2007 World Cup, which was held in China.
The first two women’s World Cups in 1991 and 1995 had 12 teams competing.
FIFA general secretary general Jerome Valcke claimed that the sport had advanced so much it made sense to add teams to the 2015 World Cup, which has yet to be awarded to any country.
He said: “The value of women’s football around the world had become higher and higher.”
Tonya Antonucci, the Commissioner of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) in the United States, said: ”This move recognises the continued growth of the women’s game happening at all levels around the world and we applaud the decision to increase the size of the women’s World Cup in the future.
“The quality and depth of the women’s soccer is improving exponentially worldwide and this will further spur investment by countries in the women’s game.
“We know that WPS, as the premier soccer league for women in the world, is an important part of the global growth of the game and we look forward to seeing our US and international WPS stars shine at World Cups in 2011, 2015 and beyond.”