New Zealand and Australia want to host FIFA Men’s World Cup

New Zealand is “rapt” with how the Women’s World Cup has gone and hopes to partner with Australia again to host the men’s tournament, Chief Executive Andrew Pragnell revealed.

The first 32-team Women’s World Cup – and the first hosted by more than one country – has been the most well-attended in the tournament’s history and generated record crowds for women’s soccer matches in Australia and New Zealand.

“We are both obviously rapt with how the tournament has gone,” Pragnell said. “FIFA are over the moon and couldn’t be happier also. We’ve shown what we always knew – that we would host the best ever Women’s World Cup. It’s only natural that at some time in the future we would host a men’s World Cup. It’s likely to be some sort of Asia-Pacific partnership, and I would see Australia and NZ as a foundation of that, for sure.”

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Football Australia boss James Johnson has repeatedly said Australia would like to host the men’s World Cup but will need stadiums that meet FIFA requirements.

The requirements for the host stadiums are to have minimum seating of 40,000 for group stage matches, 60,000 for semi-finals and 80,000 for the final.