Germany will host the next edition of the women’s European Championship, scheduled for 2029, announced UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) this Wednesday (3). The organization rejected Poland’s bid and a joint bid from Sweden and Denmark, and promised to accelerate the growth of women’s football.
A giant of women’s football, with eight continental titles, Germany will organize the tournament for the third time (after 1989 and 2001), just five years after the sporting, organizational and public success of the men’s Euro Cup, in 2024.
Looking for revenge after seeing FIFA opt for Brazil to host the 2027 World Cup, Germany aims to “help make a reality (…) the enormous untapped potential” of women’s football, according to its candidacy dossier.
“We have big stadiums and I’m convinced we can fill them,” commented Bernd Neuendorf, president of the federation, recently.
Germany has eight stadiums that far exceed UEFA’s capacity requirements.
While Wolfsburg offers a capacity for just 26,000 people, Leipzig, Cologne and Hannover have more than 40,000 each, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt more than 50,000, and Dortmund and Munich’s Allianz Arena have capacities of more than 60,000.
In total, Germany is aiming for “more than a million tickets sold”, compared to the 657,291 sold last summer in Switzerland. This is a crucial criterion as the Women’s Euros remains a loss-making tournament for UEFA despite its growing popularity.
The country also offers an ideal geographic location and an extensive railway network.
Candidate defeated by Switzerland for the 2025 edition, this time France did not apply to organize the tournament, as did Poland, and Denmark and Sweden — this time without their Finnish and Norwegian neighbors.
Italy and Portugal, in turn, withdrew their candidatures to focus on organizing two men’s tournaments, respectively: the 2032 Euro Cup, with Turkey, and the 2030 World Cup, with Spain and Morocco.
