The FIFA Men’s World Cup coming to Seattle next June might not be the last major international soccer tournament to play games inside of Lumen Field.
The 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup might be coming to Seattle as well.
FIFA published the bid books for the 2031 and 2035 Women’s World Cups on Friday. Essentially, the bid books are blueprints from the bid countries about how the tournament would be operated and where games would be played.
A joint regional bid from the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica was the only one submitted for the 2031 tournament. And Seattle was one of 14 cities in the U.S. listed as a potential host option.
It might be a while before it’s known whether games will be played in Seattle. For the upcoming Men’s World Cup, the joint bid was awarded to the U.S., Canada and Mexico in 2018, but Seattle wasn’t named as a host venue until June 2022.
The bid cited Seattle’s strong women’s sports culture, including the Reign, Storm and Torrent as professional franchises in the city. The bid also noted the region's connection to the first U.S. women’s national soccer team in 1985, saying, “Seattle seeks to honor the legacy of the 85ers, including eight Seattle-area pioneers who helped form the first U.S. women’s national team, by hosting a FIFA Women’s World Cup 2031 that drives lasting opportunity for women and girls.”
Seattle was one of three West Coast cities listed in the bid book, along with Los Angeles and San Diego. Seattle also was one of seven cities that will hold games in the 2026 World Cup that was also listed as a potential host site in 2031. The others are Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, New York/New Jersey and Kansas City, Mo.
American cities not included for the men’s tournament this summer but could be in the women's tournament in 2031 are: Denver; Minneapolis; Charlotte, N.C.; Orlando, Fla.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Washington.
The bid listed four Mexican cities as potential hosts — Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey and Torreón — while San José, Costa Rica and Kingston, Jamaica were listed as the potential hosts in those countries.
The 2035 bid also is a joint venture between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and was submitted unopposed.
The two bids are set to be voted on by the FIFA Congress during its meeting in Vancouver, B.C., on April 30.
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