women-in-sport, top-stories,

It might have been close to 2am when the decision was handed down, but it hardly mattered. If there was one post that summed up the Antipodes reaction to winning the right to host the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 it was this one: It seems only fair Australia's Sam Kerr, who scored five goals in Australia's 2019 World Cup run, takes centre stage. The joint bid won the hosting rights ahead of Colombia, which was the only other rival in the running after Brazil and Japan dropped out of the race earlier this month. Australia claimed 22 of the 35 votes The 2023 version will be the first the first time the women's event will be a 32-nation affair - up from the current 24. The competition is in the calendar for July to August 2023. The congratulatory tweets flowed thick and fast. And, as Lisa Sthalekar proved, it wasn't just the football community coming out to congratulate the winning winning bid. The International Cricket Council, the world cricket's governing body, offered it's best to Australia and New Zealand. Ticking off the following criteria: brilliant fans, amazing stadia, huge support for the women's game, overall commitment to excellence. There might have been a small reference to a couple of World Cups the Brits have in trophy cabinets right now but that was overlooked in preference to the line: "An ideal choice of host for FIFAWWC 2023!"

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