Football Federation Australia [FFA] and New Zealand Football [NZF] are proposing the first ever co-Confederation hosted FIFA World Cup, the first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup in the Asia-Pacific region and the first in the Southern Hemisphere.

A total of 13 stadiums have been proposed with up to 100 training sites available to competing teams across the two nations. By clustering four groups in each country during the group stage, travel distances will be minimised ensuring convenience for teams and fans.

Throughout the inspection visit, all key stakeholders in the Australian and New Zealand football community demonstrated unified support for the bid, with representatives of governments, state and regional associations, professional and amateur clubs and players joining FFA and NZF officials during FIFA’s visit.

The bids received by FIFA were a joint submission by the Football Federation Australia and New Zealand Football, Brazilian Football Association, Colombian Football Associationand Japan Football Association.

All of the bid books, along with their respective executive summaries, are available on FIFA.com.

FFA’s and NZF’s Bid – which has received the unified support of the Governments of Australia and New Zealand – promises to amplify women’s football in Asia and Oceania like never before as the two culturally and geographically aligned nations work ‘As One’ to deliver a truly inspired celebration of women’s football.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino had already said that he was determined to push ahead with plans to expand the FIFA Women's World Cup in time for the next tournament after hailing France 2019 as "the best ever".

"The astounding success of this year's World Cup made it very clear that this is the time to keep the momentum going and take concrete steps to foster the growth of women's football," said Infantino, who has succeeded in expanding the men's tournament from 32 teams to 48 in time for the 2026 finals in the USA, Mexico and Canada.

"I am glad to see this proposal - the first of several - becoming a reality."

Group winners in the previous round in Sydney, Milicic has rewarded his players by selecting an identical squad which claimed big wins over Chinese Taipei (7-0) and Thailand (6-0) before being pushed to the limit in a 1-1 draw with China PR.

A supremely disciplined Steel Roses side came within 120 seconds of pulling off a shock away win against the World Number 7 Matildas, only to be denied by Emily van Egmond’s superb injury-time equaliser, which lifted the Australians above the Steel Roses on goal difference.

Having overcome all manner of obstacles to advance from Group B of the Final Round of the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifiers in Sydney over the past week, the Steel Roses came within two minutes of securing top spot with a shock win over Australia.

A spirited, disciplined performance looked to have paid dividends when Tang Jiali put China ahead in the 86th minute, only for Emily van Egmond’s rocket in the third minute of added time saving the day for the hosts, whose draw was enough for them to top the group on goal difference.