Australia, New Zealand Join Forces For 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Bid

Australia and New Zealand Friday launched a joint bid to host the 2023 Women's World Cup, which officials said would help supercharge female sport in the region.

Governing body FIFA plans to increase the number of teams to 32 for the tournament from 24 at this year's event in France, and a two-country format would be able to better cope with the extra fixtures, they said.

"Australia and New Zealand have a successful history of both staging and co-hosting major international sporting events," said Australian Sports Minister Richard Colbeck. "We have the infrastructure, expertise and enthusiasm to co-host the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023."