Hamilton has been confirmed as a co-host for an inaugural Play-Off Tournament of FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 in next February. This will give Hamiltonians a rare opportunity to get a slice of the tournament action.
With just over one year to go until the ninth FIFA Women’s World Cup is hosted in Australasia in July 2023, it was announced this morning that Hamilton’s Waikato Stadium will take the lead in co-hosting the Play-Off Tournament, along with North Harbour Stadium in Auckland.
This event is a new concept for the 2023 tournament and will see 10 top women’s football teams from across the globe take to Waikato Stadium to compete for the final three qualifying spots in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Along with this, the Football Ferns, who have already qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, will play a series of friendly matches with the competing teams throughout the tournament.
Hamilton is one of four host cities in New Zealand to welcome the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, with the others being Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau, Wellington Te Whanganui-a-tara and Dunedin Ōtepoti. Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide will also be host cities for the tournament.
Hamilton Kirikiriroa Mayor Paula Southgate said the city was a fantastic centre for sport and top level women’s sport in particular, and this was a “brilliant” opportunity.
Hamilton hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023 is a big score for the community. The event is set to be one of the biggest sporting events on Australasian soil since the 2000 Sydney Olympics, with the Play-Off Tournament expected to bring significant benefits to the New Zealand economy.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 will be the first to be hosted in the Southern Hemisphere, across Aotearoa and Australia. There will be 32 teams competing in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 that will officially begin on 20 July 2023 and continue until 20 August 2023.
