FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 to start in Auckland and end in Sydney

The Women's World Cup in 2023 will be played across 9 cities in New Zealand and Australia as the tournament organisers revealed the venues for the showpiece event on Thursday.

The tournament will begin with a match at Eden Park in Auckland while the final will be played at Sydney's Stadium Australia. The two semifinal matches will be split between Australia and New Zealand.

Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth will also host games in Australia, with New Zealand's Dunedin, Hamilton and Wellington completing the nine host cities for the global showpiece.

That format is similar to other World Cup tournaments in other sports, including most recently in 2015 when Australia



and New Zealand shared hosting of the cricket World Cup.

It will be the first-of-a-kind World Cup, co-hosted by members of different confederations. This World Cup will also be the first to feature 32 teams, up from the 24 that participated in the 2019 women's tournament in France. The U.S. women's national team is the defending champion.

"The appointment of the nine host cities represents a major milestone for the next FIFA women's World Cup, as well as for players and fans across Australia, New Zealand and around the world," FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement.

Host city bids from Australia's Newcastle and Launceston, and New Zealand's Christchurch missed out.