Former US national coach Jill Ellis advocates holding the Women’s Football World Championships every two years. “Having a World Cup every two years would be an advantage. This will increase the importance of women’s football and take the sport to a higher level.”The head of the technical advisory body on the future of women’s football at the world federation FIFA said in a media briefing on Monday.
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The 54-year-old, who led the US women’s selection at the World Championships in 2015 and 2019, said that with this new World Cup rhythm, women’s football could be “more independent than men’s football”. The development of women’s football is “one of FIFA’s primary goals”, according to Ellis. She pointed out that so far only 36 national associations have participated in the Women’s World Cup. It is important to promote the development of football for women in many countries.
A proposal to develop a new match calendar for men and women comes from former Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger, who heads FIFA’s technical advisory group. The French proposed hosting the World Cup every two years instead of every four years, and the rhythm of continental tournaments such as the EM would be shortened. As a result, the change should eventually take effect after the men’s World Cup in 2026 with 48 nations in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
German national coach Martina Vos-Tecklenburg has doubts about the implementation of a Women’s World Cup every two years. “My natural reaction is at first: No, how are you supposed to implement this? Where should a big tournament go?”, she recently explained. You also have a responsibility towards the athletes. Vos-Tecklenburg said, “A World Cup also has a unique selling point. I’m happy with the current mode. It’s fine for me as it is at the moment.”
