FIFA announced the eight cities that will host matches at the 2027 World Cup in Brazil on Wednesday, primarily selecting sites on the South American country's East Coast over tropical regions that require more extensive travel.

In addition to Rio de Janeiro's iconic Maracanã Stadium, the tournament's 64 games will take place across Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and São Paulo.

"The selection of the host cities represents the moment where the dream begins to take shape," said Brazil’s minister of sport André Fufuca. "Each of the selected host cities represents Brazil — a diverse and vibrant Brazil, with people who are passionate about football, and places that already live and breathe the sport and that will now have the opportunity to leave a transformative legacy for their communities and for generations to come."

The 32 teams battling for the 2027 World Cup will begin their hunt on June 24th of that year, with the final taking place on July 25th.

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Marta, Formiga help announce 2027 World Cup cities

To bolster the news, FIFA tapped famous Brazilians for its announcement video, including star futsal player Amandinha and two-time NWSL champion Debinha.

Also helping drop the eight cities were the country’s most iconic women's soccer legends, Marta — the World Cup's all-time leading scorer — and Formiga, the only athlete to compete in seven editions of the tournament.

"I won't be on the pitch in 2027, but I'm always ready to represent Brazilian football – even more so at a special moment like this," said the retired Formiga.

"I know every corner of our country, and I can tell you: Each of these cities is full of women's football talents who need support and inspiration," she continued. "The Women's World Cup will be an opportunity for them to see the greatest up close and think, 'If they can be there, so can I.' That's the impact that only an event of this size can have."

Using the 2027 World Cup — the first ever hosted in South America — to grow the women's game is top-of-mind for former player Mariléia "Michael Jackson" dos Santos, who now serves as the country's director of women's football promotion.

"We want to create a solid network that will last well beyond 2027," said dos Santos. "The idea is to decentralise the impact so that women's football flourishes in every corner of the country."

"It's a unique opportunity to change the game, and we're going to make the most of it because Brazilian women's football deserves it, and so do the girls in our country."

Two Jamaica women’s national team members have said that “a number of players” still have not been paid their 2023 World Cup dues in full, in contrast to a statement given by the Jamaica Football Federation in October.

Jamaica goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer and forward Khadija “Bunny” Shaw claimed that some of the Reggae Girlz were still awaiting payments from the JFF in an interview with the Jamaican TV station SportsMax on Dec. 2.

“I can say that we haven’t [been fully compensated,] even up until now. I think that a number of players are missing payments back from February time,” Spencer said on “SportzMax Zone.”

Spencer’s statement contradicts a press release released by the JFF on Oct. 27, in which the federation states that it has indeed paid its World Cup team in full. Jamaica’s World Cup run included a number of firsts for the team: its first point, its first win and its first appearance in the knockout stage.

“The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) is pleased to advise that, as committed, we have now paid in full balances due to the Women’s World Cup Team,” the JFF said in the statement. “We will also start processing payments to all players who played in the qualifying rounds but were not in the final World Cup squad.”

Just three days before the JFF announced its completed payments, the organization said in a statement that it did not have the funds necessary to pay the players what they were owed. The federation had received just $1.2 million of its $1.8 million in prize money from FIFA, per the statement, and would not be able “to afford to pay out funds we have not received.”

In the space of three days, though, the JFF claimed to have distributed the outstanding payments to players.

Jamaican players have spoken out against the JFF on multiple occasions, citing poor communication from the federation, a general lack of support and insufficient compensation for their work, among other things.

On June 15, many Reggae Girlz players, including Spencer, posted a letter to social media outlining grievances against the JFF.

“On multiple occasions, we have sat down with the federation to respectfully express concerns resulting from subpar planning, transportation, accommodations, training conditions, compensation, communication, nutrition, and accessibility to proper resources. We have also showed up repeatedly without receiving contractually agreed upon compensation. We were told that all our requests and concerns would be resolved in a timely manner,” the letter states.

Still, more than a month after the JFF claimed to have paid the “full balances” due to the Reggae Girlz, players are saying that is not the case.

“I think it’s just very unfortunate because it’s not even about the money. I think it’s about having good communication,” Shaw said on “SportsMax Zone.”

Spencer believes that communication breakdown could be at the root of the issues between the JFF and the women’s national team.

“I think as a group of players that we deserve honesty and respect in every angle,” Spencer said. “When you’re left with no communication for months or for weeks about what’s happening, it makes it really difficult for a group of players to want to show up and to want to keep going and going through this each and every time if nothing ever changes.

“We’re sitting here on this and we speak the truth and we just wish that they could do the same in return.”

Team GB still has a chance compete in women’s soccer at the 2024 Olympics after England’s come-from-behind 3-2 win against the Netherlands in the Nations League group stage.

The England women’s national team is seeking Olympic qualification on behalf of Team GB. The Olympic team could include players from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well, though England likely would provide most of the roster.

Those Olympic dreams almost were cut short Friday in front of a home crowd at London’s Wembley Stadium. The Netherlands took an early lead on two first-half goals from Lineth Beerensteyn.

But England tied the game in the second half with goals from Georgia Stanway and Lauren Hemp, then completed the comeback with a stoppage time strike from Ella Toone.

Now England needs to win its final group-stage match Tuesday against Scotland and either better the Netherlands in goal differential or root for a Netherlands loss or draw against Belgium to stay alive in the quest for UEFA Olympic qualification.

The Lionesses entered Friday’s match amid a run of poor form for the 2023 World Cup runners-up, as they had lost three of their last five games starting with a 1-0 loss to Spain in the World Cup final.

That stretch included a 2-1 loss to the Oranje in September. The Lionesses had allowed six goals in four Nations League matches entering Friday.

Sweden will not qualify for the Olympics after its loss Friday to Switzerland. The third-place finisher at this summer’s World Cup, Sweden has a 2-1-2 (W-D-L) record through five Nations League group-stage matches, which knocked the team out of Olympic contention.

Players at the 2023 World Cup did not believe themselves to be in peak physical fitness at the start of the tournament, according to a new survey from FIFPRO.

The global players’ union surveyed players from 26 of the 32 national teams that participated in the World Cup, with 53% of the players saying they felt as though they had “insufficient rest” prior to the tournament. The tournament began on July 20, just 54 days after the Women’s Super League ended and in the midst of the NWSL season.

Two-thirds of players did not believe themselves to be at their physical peak, while 60% said that their post-tournament rest also was insufficient. Less than three weeks after the World Cup final on Aug. 20, Champions League qualifying began, while NWSL players jumped right back into their season.

FIFPRO recommends “an off-season break of four weeks, with a retraining period of six weeks.” But 86% of players responding to the survey said that they had less than two weeks rest before rejoining their club teams. One player described the lack of recovery time as “mentally exhausting.”

“I was trying to rest and prepare at the same time, which doesn’t really work,” another said.

Also, while FIFA tournament regulations state that 100% of players must have a pre-tournament medical exam and an electrocardiogram (ECG), 10% of players surveyed did not receive an exam, and 22% did not have an ECG.

“Anything below 100% when it comes to access to an ECG or undertaking a pre-tournament medical is not acceptable,” said Alex Culvin, FIFA’s head of strategy and research for women’s football. “Regulations need to be applied and adhered to in full.

“Players need an environment that supports their holistic wellbeing, from mental health through to tournament conditions, so they have the platform to be at their competitive best.”

Two-thirds of the players surveyed also said that support for mental health could have been better at the World Cup.

Soccer power couple Kristie Mewis and Sam Kerr shared their engagement photos on social media Tuesday morning.

The two shared the pictures of the engagement, which took place on Sept. 1, according to the couple’s caption. That means that the duo kept it under wraps for roughly two months, as they did not announce their engagement until Nov. 10, though they had invited speculation since late September.

On Oct. 24, Mewis posted a collage on Instagram that featured one photo with her engagement ring facing the camera.

The couple broke the news in an exclusive for People Magazine just ahead of the NWSL Championship match, which Mewis won with Gotham FC. Mewis told People that Kerr has “just been everything” for her in 2023.

“My biggest supporter, always listening to me nag and complain all, all of my crazy antics,” Mewis said.

And while the long-distance relationship is hard at times, as Kerr plays for English club Chelsea, it helps that they play the same sport, they said.

“I think the thing that keeps us going is that we can see an end point. We both just want each other to do so well in our careers,” Kerr said. “I don’t think you could be in a long-distance relationship with someone who didn’t get the sport. She fully gets it and I get it. So we just support each other.”

The U.S. women’s national team will take the pitch again in December, hosting China for a pair of international friendlies.

The USWNT most recently claimed a 3-0 win over Colombia, following a 0-0 draw against the World Cup darling in the first of two friendlies in October.

In September, the team bested South Africa in two friendlies, rebounding from a disappointing World Cup run. The shootout loss to Sweden in the Round of 16 marked the earliest-ever World Cup exit for the USWNT. That came after the team’s worst-ever group-stage result, which included a 3-0 win against Vietnam on July 21, followed by a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands on July 26 and a 0-0 draw with Portugal on Aug. 1.

Ahead of the World Cup, the USWNT kicked off the year with two resounding wins against World Cup co-host New Zealand, then swept its three games in the SheBelieves Cup, its next two friendlies against Ireland and its World Cup send-off match against Wales.

The USWNT has a 12-4-0 (W-D-L) record so far this year. Here’s everything you need to know about the rest of the USWNT’s 2023 schedule.

December: International friendlies vs. China

The USWNT will host China in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Frisco, Texas, to close out its 2023 schedule.

  • Saturday, Dec. 2 — 3 p.m. ET (TNT, Universo, Peacock)
    • United States vs. China (DRV PNK Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
  • Tuesday, Dec. 5 — 8 p.m. ET (TruTV, Universo, Peacock)
    • United States vs. China (Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas)

Alex Loera becomes the first player to join NWSL expansion club Bay FC, arriving via trade from the Kansas City Current.

The 24-year-old defensive midfielder won the 2020 NCAA championship during her college career with Santa Clara, and she is thrilled to return to the Bay Area, she told reporters Wednesday. Bay FC cofounders Brandi Chastain, Aly Wagner, Danielle Slaton and Leslie Osborne also played for Santa Clara before starring for the USWNT.

“As soon as I heard that Bay FC could be a potential team in the league, I was so excited,” Loera said. “I was like, ‘Yep, I’m going to end up back here at some point.’ … So I am so excited. I cannot wait.”

Bay FC is set to start play in 2024, and Loera’s contract runs through 2025.

The Current received $175,000 in allocation funds and protection from Bay FC in the NWSL expansion draft on Dec. 15 in exchange for Loera. Bay FC and the Utah Royals will have the opportunity to select up to 12 players through the 12-round expansion draft, but the Current and the Orlando Pride already have acquired protection from Bay FC.

Bay FC general manager Lucy Rushton acknowledged that the team is excited to find a player with “Bay Area ties.” She also sees Loera as the perfect player with which the team can begin to build its roster.

“Alex is a competitor,” Rushton said. “She’s a winner, and she’s a leader in how she plays. So as a founding piece of our team, she really does epitomize everything that we’re looking for.”

Gotham FC’s Midge Purce juked one OL Reign defender by the sideline and another by the goal box. She charged into the box with the ball on her foot and with her team outnumbered by the cage.

As Purce looked up to pass, Lynn Williams sprinted into the box just in front of the net. Williams tapped the ball from Purce into the net to open the scoring in the NWSL Championship, becoming the second player in NWSL history to contribute a goal in three different championship matches.

The early scoring didn’t stop there, as Gotham carried a 2-1 lead over OL Reign into halftime at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. And despite a frantic end to the match, that would stand as the final score, giving the Gotham its first title in franchise history.

Four minutes after Williams’ opening tally, OL Reign midfielder Rose Lavelle broke through a line of white-clad defenders and booted a breakaway goal for the equalizer.

Purce, though, did not let her team go to the locker room tied. In the second minute of first-half stoppage time, the Gotham FC forward loosed a corner kick high into the goal box. The ball curved toward the front of the net in the air and Esther González jumped to meet it. The 2023 World Cup winner headed the ball into the netting to give New York the advantage at the half.

World Cup stars came up big for their respective squads in the NWSL Championship — at least one national team player cashed in on each goal, with Williams and Lavelle from the U.S. women’s national team and González from Spain.

And while Purce missed out on the World Cup with a quad tear, the USWNT forward put her name in the NWSL history books with her two first-half assists. She is just the second player to record multiple assists in an NWSL final, joining Lauren Holiday, who did so for 2014 champion FC Kansas City. She won the NWSL Championship MVP award for her performance.

The buzz leading into the game centered around the retiring stars, Megan Rapinoe for OL Reign and Ali Krieger for Gotham FC, but the next wave of international stars stepped into the spotlight during the NWSL Championship.

One of the reported finalists in the U.S. women’s national team’s search for its next head coach may be out of the running.

Former USWNT assistant coach and current Australia manager Tony Gustavsson was one of three candidates at the top of U.S. Soccer’s shortlist, The Athletic reported on Oct. 27. Laura Harvey of OL Reign and Joe Montemurro of Juventus are the other contenders.

Yet the same report noted that Gustavsson is not likely to relocate to the United States. And on Wednesday, Gustavsson alluded to the prospect of remaining with Australia.

When asked by Australia’s Network 10 about the reported interest from the USWNT and whether he would still be with the Matildas for the 2024 Olympics, Gustavsson did not deny his involvement in the search. But he did note that he is happy with the Matildas, who he led to the 2023 World Cup semifinals.

“I love this team, Gustavsson said. “And we have unfinished business to do.”

U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker has said that the federation would like to have a new head coach in place by the team’s December friendlies. Those take place on December 2 and 5 against China.

Gustavsson, meanwhile, is in the middle of Olympic qualifying competition with Australia. The Matildas took a 3-0 win over Chinese Taipei on Wednesday, advancing to the third round of Asian qualifying for the Paris Olympics.

England’s Olympic qualification has been put in jeopardy following Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to Belgium.

The defeat puts the Lionesses third in their Women’s Nations League table with two matches remaining. They sit one point back of Belgium, with Belgium holding the advantage on goal differential. Perhaps even more concerning is the fact that it was England’s third loss in five games.

“First of all we have to beat the Netherlands by more than one goal at Wembley [in December] so we know we have work to do,” Sarina Wiegman told ITV. “We have put ourselves in a hard position.”

The 2023 World Cup runners-up face the Netherlands at 2:45 p.m. ET on Dec. 1. The Lionessess lost to the Oranje in their most recent match, a 2-1 defeat in September. And while injuries to key players like Leah Williamson and Beth Mead have plagued the team, there have been other worrying signs.

The Lionesses have allowed six goals in four Women’s Nations League matches. In just seven games, they have just one clean sheet. They’re also not converting their chances. They held possession 73% of the match and had 18 shots – but just five were on target. Belgium, meanwhile scored from three of five total attempts.

“This was a game [where] I think we should have been tighter on the ball,” Wiegman said. “The tempo wasn’t great but we did create lots of chances and we dominated the game totally. We lost the ball and we knew they were dangerous on the counter-attack. It was us that made it hard for ourselves. It’s something we have to get out of our game. We have to do better in the final third.

“We were sloppy on the ball and they were ready for that. They play their long ball and they are gone [on the counter-attack].”

Even still, England players are confident that they can keep their Olympic hopes alive.

“We’ve still got a good chance, we play our next game against the Netherlands at Wembley – a stadium where we like to step up and against a team that we played quite recently,” Lucy Bronze said. “We’ll put this game to bed and look forward to playing the Netherlands and Scotland. They are two really tough games. We’ve left ourselves with a little bit more to do – but it’s not impossible.”