New Zealand will host the Women's Football World Cup as the game's governing body FIFA approved the trans-Tasman bid with Australia for 2023.
The joint bid between New Zealand and Australia has been given the nod over Colombia, and will be held from July 10 to August 20, 2023.
The combined New Zealand-Australia bid scored 4.5 out of 5 in the recent FIFA inspection report while remaining rival Colombia scored considerably lower – 2.8.
Scores were based on criteria, including hotel availability, stadiums and other infrastructure, with the joint bid beating Colombia in every category.
Despite the lower technical score in the report, all nine FIFA Council members for Europe's confederation, UEFA, voted for Colombia as host, including English Football Association chairman Greg Clarke.
In a statement, the UEFA said while Colombia's bid was not as highly-rated by FIFA in its inspection report, the European members said the country provided a "strategic opportunity for the development of women's football in South America thanks to the legacy and increase of attention for the women's game that the tournament would bring to the continent."
"It was a choice between two countries - Australia and New Zealand - where women's football is already strongly established, and a continent where it still has to be firmly implanted and has a huge development potential," it read.
"It's important to add that European members of the FIFA Council agreed to vote together on major issues as a matter of solidarity."
Japan dropped out of the race on Monday NZT.
The event's opening match will be played at Auckland's Eden Park, with the final to be played in Sydney.
The World Cup will be the first staged across two confederations, and the first Women’s World Cup to be held in the Asia-Pacific region.
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