The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) has withdrawn its candidacy to organize the 2029 Women’s European Championship, the organization led by Pedro Proença announced this Tuesday, November 18th.
Portugal was competing with Germany, Poland and the joint organization of Denmark and Sweden to host the 15th edition of the European Championship, the host of which will be announced on December 3rd.
In a statement, the FPF justifies the decision with the concentration on the preparation of the Ibero-Moroccan organization for the 2030 World Championship.
“In total harmony with UEFA and ensuring total focus on organizing the World Cup 2030, management validated the decision to withdraw the candidacy for organizing the 2029 Women’s European Championship,” reads the FPF statement.
In the communication resulting from the federative management meeting, the organization announced that it had approved the creation of a women’s football department, given the “need to invest, over the next four years, in the internal consolidation of the sport, through the reinforcement of competitive frameworks and investment in the development of clubs, coaches and players”.
The FPF also revealed that it had unanimously approved a vote of praise for the senior men’s national team for qualifying for the 2030 World Cup.
On the same occasion, the team led by Proença also unanimously approved the organization’s new anti-corruption policy, which will come into force immediately, and decided to create working groups “to discuss the new financing model for Portuguese football” and “to debate the typology and criteria of investors in Portuguese football”.
The bid to organize the 2029 Women’s European Football Championship dates back to September 2024, when the FPF was led by Fernando Gomes, current president of the Portuguese Olympic Committee.
“We believe that a candidacy to organize the European Championship in 2029 will be another step towards consolidating women’s football in Portugal”, explained Gomes at the time.
Portugal has already been present in three editions of the women’s European Championships, in 2017, in the Netherlands, in 2022, in England, and in 2025, in Switzerland, without ever getting beyond the group stage.