‘For future generations’: Brazil working hard to ensure successful 2027 Women’s World Cup

W e are 365 days away from the 2027 Women’s World Cup, which will take place in eight Brazilian cities between 24 June and 25 July next year. This will be the third major women’s football tournament held in the country in the past two decades, after the 2007 Pan American Games and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and preparations are in full swing. Playing captain in 2007, the former defender Aline Pellegrino was appointed as executive director of legacy and stakeholder affairs for the 2027 tournament and will lead efforts to build the future of the women’s game after the tournament. The World Cup final, to be played at the Maracanã, will coincide with the 20th anniversary of Brazil’s Pan American football gold. “The mere fact that the Women’s World Cup is coming to Brazil for the first time represents, in itself, a legacy built by generations of women who were long rendered invisible,” Pellegrino tells Moving the Goalposts. She says her dream for the future of the women’s game in the country is that “the tournament will be remembered not only for the matches played but for the changes it has helped to bring about for future generations”. One of the current captains of the national team – a shared responsibility with players such as the legendary Marta – the midfielder Angelina Constantino was only seven at the time of the Pan American tournament. …