DFB wants the women’s European Championship-but has to be sieved beforehand

Which city gets the contract?

DFB wants the European Championship – but has to be sieved beforehand

Women’s football is more popular than ever – the DFB wants to organize a big tournament in 2029. Numerous German cities show interest.

The German Football Association (DFB) is faced with the decision as to which cities will be included in the application for the European women’s European Championship 2029. In the end, only eight of the currently 14 applicant cities should remain. However, it is possible that after the Presidium meeting on Friday, the DFB will initially put even more cities on its shortlist before the final selection is made.

Among the applicants are Berlin with the Olympic Stadium, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Munich, Bremen, Leipzig, Wolfsburg, Düsseldorf, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne and Rostock. Stuttgart has withdrawn his application. At least ten million euros would have been necessary for the orientation. However, because of the tense financial situation in the budget, the project in the Stuttgart town council did not find a majority.

By March 12, the DFB must send its provisional application documents to the UEFA. The final submission takes place until August 27th. The decision as to which association is awarded the contract is made by the Executive Committee in December 2025. The tournament is to be held in eight stadiums with 16 teams. In addition to Germany, Denmark/Sweden, Portugal, Poland and Italy also apply as hosts.

The DFB had recently failed with its application for the Women’s World Cup 2027, which is instead held in Brazil. So far, the women’s European Championship 1989 and 2001 and the 2011 Women’s World Cup have taken place in Germany. After the men’s European Championship last summer 2024, the 2029 women’s European Championship would be the next big football tournament on German soil.

“We go to the further application process with top locations and a high motivation,” said DFB general secretary Heike Ullrich. Unlike this year’s European Women’s European Championships in Switzerland, which also plays in small stadiums, the UEFA demands significantly larger capacities for 2029. At least one stadium must have over 50,000 seats, three more stadiums each over at least 30,000 places and four more over at least 20,000 places.

For comparison: The largest arenas at the 2025 women in Switzerland take 38,000 (Basel), 31,500 (Bern), 30,000 (Geneva) and 24,000 spectators (Zurich). There are also significantly smaller stadiums such as in Thun (10,400) or Lucerne (16,000).