Joint World Cup bid can showcase Wales - Mooney

Noel Mooney was appointed as chief executive of the Football Association of Wales in August 2021

Noel Mooney says a successful joint UK bid to host the 2035 Women's World Cup would "showcase" football in Wales.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) chief executive also believes that Wales, in conjunction with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, could "host a spectacular World Cup".

The four nations' football associations have expressed their intention to submit a joint bid for 2035 following a decision by world governing body Fifa recommending the tournament is hosted in Europe or Africa in that year.

"When we became aware that Fifa were going to look for two World Cups to award -- so 2031 and '35 - we got together pretty quickly and we said we really need to bring this tournament to this part of the world," said Mooney.

"Of course, here in Cymru, we're very ambitious - we want to bring Wales to the world through football and we're certainly doing that through competitions we do."

Wales' women's team have never played at a World Cup finals but Rhian Wilkinson's side have qualified for Euro 2025 in Switzerland this summer, which will be their first major tournament.

"We are always discussing opportunities to grow the game and, as you know, this is a really special time for the women's game here in Wales having qualified for our first Euros - our first major tournament - this summer," Mooney told BBC Radio Wales' Breakfast programme.

"We felt with the trajectory that we're on with the women's game that bringing a World Cup to Cymru would be pretty special, so it didn't take an awful lot of thought.

"We've got to have an expression of interest in by the end of March. Let's see what comes.

"We feel pretty good about what we could bring. Hosting a World Cup here would be spectacular. We've got the stadia, we've got the fans, we've got this massive growth in the women's game."

The FAW is already preparing for Wales to be co-hosts of a major international football tournament for the first time, when they stage the men's Euro 2028 finals along with the other home associations and the Republic of Ireland.

Cardiff's Principality Stadium will be one of 10 venues used across nine cities in the five countries and is expected to host at least three group games, a last-16 tie and a quarter-final.

The FAW hopes to be awarded the opening game, but that could depend on whether Wales qualify.

"The first thing is the showcasing of football here in Wales. If you take Euro 2028 for example, we fought very hard to make sure that we have the opening match here in Cardiff which the whole world will be watching," added Mooney.

Former Uefa development executive Mooney, 48, also regards automatic qualification for the 2035 Women's World Cup as being important for Wales.

"We'll be working very hard to get automatic qualification," he said.

"It really would be a big milestone for us to have qualification to the World Cup and automatic qualification ideally.

"Playing in these major tournaments is brilliant for the country, of course, but they're also major revenue streams for us in funding the grassroots game."

Bids for the 2031 and 2035 finals must be submitted in the fourth quarter of 2025.

A UK bid for 2035 could reportedly face a challenge from South Africa, who withdrew from the race to host the 2027 event.