FIFA are working hard around the world to help achieve a goal of 60 million female players by 2027. The ambitious target is underpinned by 13 development programmes with all 211 FIFA Member Associations (MAs) eligible to apply for support from world football's governing body. FIFA recently renewed and expanded its FIFA Women’s Development Programme in a further boost to women’s football. Additional information for MAs can be found here. Inside FIFA looks at just some of the significant recent activity which has helped build the footprint of women’s football globally.

The Botswana Football Association’s (BFA) strong commitment to women’s football was again on display as the association hosted an expansive eight-day U-13 camp as part of the FIFA Women’s Football Campaign. As part of the BFA’s commitment to grow grassroots football and elite pathways, the camp was hosted at the FIFA Forward-funded Lekidi Football Centre in the capital Gaborone.

FIFA’s Football for Schools was introduced locally in 2024, while the country’s leading women’s football advocate, Tsholofelo Setlhoko, has participated in the FIFA’s Women in Football Leadership Programme crediting it with empowering women and the women’s game. The BFA also plans to launch the BFA U-15 Youth League to provide a structured path for young talent and empower more women coaches.

Thirty female coaches from Kosovo undertook the UEFA C Licence Diploma with the support of FIFA's Coach Education Scholarship Programme. The graduation ceremony took place in the capital Pristina with the programme part of Football Federation of Kosovo’s Women’s Football Strategy 2024-28.

The Honduras Football Association [FENAFUTH] underlined their focus on developing the next generation of players with a FIFA League Development programme in Tegucigalpa. The programme was implemented within the U-13 women's tournament which the federation hope to develop later in the U-15, 17 and 20 categories. It follows earlier festivals as part of the FIFA Women’s Football Campaign staged over multiple months across the Central American nation. “The long-term vision for women's soccer in Honduras is to create opportunities for players to participate in regular competitions and maintain constant training with the support of league teams, resulting in the federation having all possible categories available,” said Cristian Alessa, FENAFUT Development Director.

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) continue to build momentum in their drive to shape the future of women’s football with the third season of the G-League underway. The premier local developmental football competition for girls aged 9 to 14 aims to provide access and opportunity for young players and is supported by the FIFA League Development programme. The TTFA have actively engaged with FIFA over recent years to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the global body’s various Women’s Football Development Programmes on offer to Member Associations. “The G-League is more than just matches - it’s a movement,” said Jinelle James, TTFA Director of Women’s Football. “It creates a fun, safe, and competitive environment that inspires girls to fall in love with the game, while helping us identify the next generation of national players.”

The success of Female Football Week in Australia again highlighted the significant off-field impact of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in keeping with Goal 8 of Strategic Objectives for the Global Game: 2023-2027. A nationwide celebration of the people driving the continued rise of women’s football, Female Football Week has become a flagship initiative Down Under, recognising, celebrating and inspiring the contributions of women and girls across all levels of the game. This year’s activations delivered a record-breaking series of events from local clubs to the elite stage with the week timed to coincide with the A-League Women’s finals series, a competition won by Central Coast Mariners for the first time.

Meanwhile, the FIFA Women in Football Leadership programme continues to demonstrate its value with 2022 participant and former Australia international Heather Garriock recently named as interim chief executive at Football Australia. Applications for this programme are now open and MAs can apply via the FIFA Forward Platform (deadline June 13).

May witnessed some major milestones that will shape the history of women’s football with the FIFA Council unanimously deciding to expand the number of participating teams in the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ from 32 to 48 as of the 2031 edition.

The expansion to 32 teams for Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand 2023 proved to be an enormous success and these latest announcements will allow more nations to fully utilise FIFA’s development programmes in a context of an increasingly realistic goal of featuring on football’s greatest stage.

Meanwhile, the shape of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027 – the first to be held in South America – has become clearer with the colourful announcement of the eight Host Cities.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced a target of USD 1 billion in revenue from future editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup which would be fully reinvested into women’s football.