FIFA is setting its sights on an ambitious new financial milestone, aiming to generate $1 billion (approximately Sh129.34 billion) in revenue from future editions of the Women’s World Cup.
This announcement was made by FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the Saudi Arabia-US Investment Forum 2025 in Riyadh on Tuesday.
The target, Infantino said, reflects the exponential growth and increasing global interest in women’s football. The 2023 edition of the Women’s World Cup, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, brought in over $570 million (Sh73.72 billion), marking the first time the tournament reached a break-even point financially.
“Women’s football and women in football are crucially important…,” Infantino told attendees at the forum. “It’s growing as well, and exponentially, and we are targeting that as well to have $1 billion revenue just with the Women’s World Cup to reinvest in the women’s game.”
The upcoming 2027 Women’s World Cup will be staged in Brazil, the first time the tournament will take place in South America. FIFA has already expanded the men’s tournament to 48 teams, and similar expansion plans are in place for the women’s edition, with the 2031 tournament widely expected to be hosted by the United States anticipated to include 48 teams, up from the current 32.
The record-breaking figures and expansion plans underscore the momentum behind the women’s game, which has seen unprecedented viewership, sponsorship deals, and grassroots participation in recent years. Infantino reiterated FIFA’s commitment to ensuring the revenues generated are reinvested into developing women’s football globally, particularly in underrepresented regions.
“There is massive potential outside Europe,” Infantino said, noting that much of football’s commercial success has traditionally been concentrated in European markets.
“If the rest of the world, in particular Saudi Arabia or the United States of America, would do just 20 percent of what Europe does in soccer, we could reach an amount of over half a trillion (dollars) or more of GDP impact (with our sport).”
Infantino praised Saudi Arabia for the steps it has taken in recent years to promote women’s football. Once a region with little formal infrastructure for women’s sports, the Kingdom has made headlines for launching a national women’s league and national team.
“Saudi Arabia, by the way, is doing exceptionally well, as well, by creating a women’s league, a women’s national team. Women’s football is the only team sport for women that has such a huge audience and impact as well,” Infantino added.
FIFA’s growing focus on women’s football comes amid rising global attention on gender equity in sport, and the organisation has promised to ensure greater financial parity and investment in the women’s game in future tournaments.
By Kimani Mwangi