What role could NI play in 2035 Women's World Cup?

On Wednesday, the Football Associations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales expressed their intention to submit a joint bid to host the 2035 Women's World Cup.

While the tournament is 10 years away and at this stage, this it is only an expression to bid with the joint UK is likely to have rivals, it is hard not to become a little bit excited about Northern Ireland playing a role in hosting the World Cup.

With the proposed bid announced on the same day as the Irish FA's new five-year strategy for women's and girls' football, IFA CEO Patrick Nelson said the association would be "delighted" to co-host the tournament.

"Women's and girls' football is growing rapidly in Northern Ireland," said Nelson.

"This opportunity to serve the world, coming on the day we launch our new women's and girls' strategy, will encourage and excite even more girls to dream of wearing our green shirt on home turf at the greatest of all competitions."

So, what role could Northern Ireland play in hosting the tournament?

England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland successfully bid to host the men's Euro 2028 finals.

Northern Ireland's involvement in that process somewhat evaporated when it emerged the country will not be able to host matches in that tournament.

The national stadium at Windsor Park did not meet Uefa's criteria to host matches, with it's 18,500 capacity well short of the required 30,000, and the proposal to redevelop gaelic games stadium Casement Park in time for the tournament fell through.

With that in mind, it would be understandable if there was some scepticism surrounding Northern Ireland's role in the Women's World Cup.

At this stage, no stadia has been named in the proposal for the joint bid but, unlike the men's Euros, it is understood that Windsor Park will be put forward as a potential stadium for the Women's World Cup.

While a capacity target of around 20,000 has been earmarked as the number to meet Fifa's criteria - just 1500 seats more than currently available at Windsor Park - at the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia in New Zealand, there were two stadiums with a similar capacity to the Belfast's National Stadium and one with a much smaller capacity.

The Perth Rectangular Stadium, where the Republic of Ireland faced Canada in the group stages, had a capacity of 18,727 for the tournament, while the Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, New Zealand held 18,000.

The smallest venue used in the World Cup was the Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, which had a capacity of just 13,557 but hosted group stage and last-16 matches while it was a similar story in the 2019 World Cup in France, when stadiums in Montpellier, with 19,300, and Grenoble's stadium, with 18,000, met Fifa's requirements.

In terms of qualification, for the 2023 World Cup both Australia and New Zealand both automatically awarded a place in the tournament as co-hosts.

Just like with Euro 2028, with four nations it is unlikely all would automatically qualify, but it has been reported Fifa could consider expanding the number of teams at the tournament to 48 to bring it into line with the men's tournament.

Again, with the tournament so far in the distance and the number of teams to be decided, qualifying routes for the finals will not be confirmed until closer to the tournament.

It was announced in February that a National Training Centre near Ballymena is set to be opened by the Irish FA in 2028 and, regardless if Northern Ireland qualify, it could open another avenue for some form of participation in the tournament.

Given the bid is only an expression of interest at this stage, and the tournament is still 10 years away, there are still plenty of if's, but's and maybe's.

But, after the disappointment of the men's Euro 2028 bid, it would be quite an achievement to bring one of football's biggest tournament's to Northern Ireland.