Australia and New Zealand to host 2023 Women's World Cup

The two trans-Tasman nations had long been expected to be confirmed as hosts for the tournament but recent rumours had suggested that Colombia had closed the gap in the voting and could potentially pip them to the rights.

The next edition of the tournament will use an expanded format, in which 32 teams will compete for the first time.

Australia announced its bid to host the competition almost as soon as the 2019 edition, held in France finished. New Zealand then joined the bid in December.

Colombia had been boosted in recent weeks by Brazil's decision to withdraw from the hosting process and unify behind Colombia. This led to Japan to follow suit in quitting the race.

FIFA's evaluation report highlighted the infrastructure and organisational advantages of the Australia/New Zealand bid which FIFA believed would make for a commercially successful tournament.

The joint bid won by 22 votes to 13, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino admitting that he would prefer a tournament hosted by more than one country to capitalise on the growing interest in women's football after the last World Cup in France, which attracted record viewing figures.

The USA have won the last two editions of the Women's World Cup.