The United States will join with Mexico in a bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced Wednesday evening.

If the countries win the hosting rights, the U.S. and Mexico would play host to the Men’s World Cup in 2026 and the Women’s World Cup in 2027. And then the U.S. would play host to the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

Also in contention for the tournament are Brazil (which announced its bid last month), South Africa, as well as Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany in another joint bid. FIFA is expected to announce its choice in May 2024, according to USSF.

“I think that this is a great time. We haven’t hosted a World Cup in 24 years, and so to bring it back and to have ’26 followed by ’27 I think speaks great to our region and trying to grow our region,” U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone said ahead of Wednesday’s USMNT match against Mexico. “I know we have Concacaf behind us. We didn’t want to do the bid alone, so we reached out to Mexico and they jumped right in.”

The U.S. previously hosted the Women’s World Cup in 1999 and in 2003. The 1999 tournament in particular stands out as a pivotal moment for bringing attention and investment to the women’s game.

When asked about the prospect of hosting the World Cup, OL Reign coach Laura Harvey pointed to the growth the U.S. could see in player development.

“Obviously, everyone talks about the ’99 World Cup and how impactful that was on women’s soccer in this country. So to think that we can have it again here would be phenomenal,” she said. “And I think with the explosion of the NWSL in the last year or so, it would be quite fitting that in four years time, we could have the biggest showpiece in the game.”

Harvey, who is from England but has coached the USWNT U-20 squad and as an assistant coach for the senior team, noted that she thinks the U.S. has “done a really good job” of ensuring that players have a pathway to elite-level soccer.

“Having something like the World Cup in your home country, I think it just elevates what you want it to look like,” she continued. “Thinking about having a World Cup in 2027 and thinking who could be part of that, obviously you’re seeing the likes of Alyssa Thompson and Jaedyn Shaw, and all those guys who are already in the league.

“I think it would just even more shine a light on us as a league, and making sure that we continue to grow and develop.”