New Manchester United stadium could stage games at 2035 Women's World Cup

Independent

03-04-2025

Manchester United's proposed new 100,000-capacity stadium could stage matches at the 2035 Women's World Cup, Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham has said.
The United Kingdom is all but certain to host a first football World Cup since 1966 after the four-nation plan to stage the women's finals in 10 years' time was confirmed as the sole bid by FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Thursday.
Bullingham said the four associations would be 'really comfortable' if the finals were expanded to 48 teams, which is possible under the bidding regulations published by FIFA. That would likely require 16 venues, which Bullingham believes would allow the tournament to create more impact across the four nations.
He said it was the 'assumption' Wembley would host the final but admitted the 10-year lead-in meant a number of new stadia, including United's new ground, could feature.
'We're going to have conversations with (United) and work out if they can be part of it or not,' he said at the UEFA Congress in Belgrade on Thursday.
'We've got a number of different stadia being built in the country, potentially Man United, potentially Birmingham, and with a 10-year horizon you've got to work out exactly where you'll be then.
'There will be lots of conversations to be had, understanding timescales for stadium builds, understanding what people want and knitting that together.'
United hope to be in their new £2billion stadium in time for the 2030-31 season.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has already said the bid has British Government support and Bullingham said Government guarantees around tax issues and security funding would need to be provided to FIFA by the end of this month, ahead of the formal bid submission in November.
A rival bid set to feature Spain, Portugal and Morocco, touted by Spanish federation president Rafael Louzan last week, did not ultimately fully materialise, with Infantino saying the UK's plan was the only 'valid bid'.
Wales and Scotland would likely provide two venues each, with sources close to the bid indicating Wrexham's redeveloped SToK Racecourse ground was a candidate alongside Cardiff's Principality Stadium.
The League One club's Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are seeking to expand the Dragons' stadium as the club continue their rise up the football pyramid.
Bid leaders speaking to the PA news agency on condition of anonymity said they felt the Government would look favourably on including a venue in north Wales in the bid as well as Cardiff in the south, while Wrexham's Hollywood connection would give the tournament obvious crossover appeal.
Northern Ireland's Windsor Park is likely to be submitted as a host venue in 2035 too. The Belfast stadium's capacity was too low for consideration to host matches at the men's Euros in 2028 and, when plans to redevelop Casement Park in time for the finals were shelved last September, the country's hopes of co-hosting that tournament collapsed.
However, Bullingham said he was confident its capacity could easily be brought up to the 20,000 minimum for the 2035 finals.
England successfully staged the 2022 Women's Euros and hosting in 2035 will further strengthen relations with FIFA after bids to host the 2006 and 2018 men's World Cups ended in failure.
The UK bid is poised to go forward unopposed to FIFA Congress in the second quarter of next year, where there would most likely be a vote by acclamation, as was the case when the Saudi Arabian bid for the 2034 men's World Cup was unchallenged last December. The UK bid will still be subject to the usual FIFA checks, such as an evaluation report.
Infantino confirmed the United States were the sole bidders for 2031, potentially alongside other nations from the CONCACAF confederation which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean.