The 2027 Women’s World Cup final will take place at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium, FIFA announced Thursday as it unveiled the entire match schedule for the competition in Brazil.
Thirty-two teams will compete in eight cities, with each location hosting at least seven matches and a minimum of one knockout game. In all, 64 matches will be played.
Brasilia, Porto Alegre, Recife and Salvador will host matches through the Round of 16. Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro will be the venues for the quarterfinals.
Sao Paulo will host one semifinal and the third-place match at Arena Itaquera, while the other semifinal and the July 25 championship will take place in Rio de Janeiro.
“We can’t wait to witness a new chapter of women’s football history unfold when the world’s best players, coaches, fans and local communities take centre stage in Brazil next year,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement. “I already have goosebumps thinking about the incredible passion, colour and energy that Brazilian fans will bring to the tournament as they welcome the world to eight vibrant Host Cities.”
Host Brazil will open the tournament at Maracana Stadium on June 24 before playing their other two group games in Sao Paulo on June 29 and Brasilia on July 4.
“As we developed the match schedule, we carefully balanced sporting fairness across all 32 teams, considering travel distances, recovery time between matches and the overall competition experience,” said Dame Sarai Bareman, FIFA’s chief women’s football officer. “At the same time, we wanted to ensure fans across Brazil could be part of the excitement and that each Host City could play its role in this celebration of women’s football.”
The 73,000-seat Maracana Stadium (Estadio do Maracana) will become the third venue to host World Cup finals for men (2014) and women, joining the former Rasunda Stadium in Solna, Sweden, and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Eighteen of the 32 teams have already qualified, including host Brazil and defending champion Spain.
–Field Level Media
