Women’s Football On The Rise In South America Ahead Of 2027 Brazil World Cup | OneFootball

Women’s football is on the rise across South America. With the first Women’s World Cup on South American soil now less than 500 days away, the growth of the sport across the continent is becoming more visible than ever.

From the professionalisation of leagues, the continued rise of the Brasileirão Feminino, the lasting impact of legendary player Marta, and clubs such as Olimpia in Paraguay helping to push the game forward, it is clear that women’s football is beginning to accelerate across the region.

Players like Linda Caicedo are providing hope and inspiration for Colombia’s next generation, showing what is possible for young players across the continent.

At the same time, countries such as Chile and Argentina have continued pushing towards a more professional structure within their domestic leagues, with clubs increasingly operating on a professional basis.

A World Cup on South American Soil

The 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil is now a little over a year away, kicking off on 8 June 2027. FIFA has confirmed that the tournament will be hosted across eight cities: Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and Sao Paulo.

The stadiums selected for the tournament all hold over 40,000 spectators, with the smallest being the Arena Pernambuco in Recife, which has a capacity of around 45,440.

Some of Brazil’s most iconic venues are included. The Maracana in Rio de Janeiro will play a central role, alongside other famous stadiums such as the Mineirão in Belo Horizonte.

The continent will finally welcome the biggest tournament in the women’s game. For a region with such a historic and passionate football culture, it represents a huge moment.

The tournament will not only help strengthen the professional structure within Brazil, but it could also provide a model for the rest of South America to follow. Major global events often act as catalysts, accelerating the growth of domestic leagues, improving club investment, and opening pathways for young talent across the continent.

The growth of any game does not always begin with large investments or major infrastructure. Sometimes it starts with something much simpler. One person watching a match on television, seeing what is possible, and then wanting to recreate that moment themselves.

It will also mark a historic moment for the tournament. The 2027 edition will be the first Women’s World Cup ever held in South America, bringing the competition to a new continent.

Brazil will become the sixth nation to have hosted both the men’s and women’s FIFA World Cups, further cementing the country’s long-standing connection with the global game.

Professionalisation

In 2022, it was announced that the Chilean women’s football league would move towards becoming fully professional, bringing an end to more than a decade where many players had been operating in a semi-professional environment.

This is a huge step forward for the women’s game. For many players, it had often meant balancing football with academic studies or full-time work in other industries and professions.

While education will always remain important, the shift towards professionalism means players can now realistically focus on building a career in football if they choose to do so.

More importantly, it means being paid in a way that reflects their dedication to the sport, rather than having to constantly juggle between football and other work commitments.

Argentina has also seen important structural changes in recent years. Argentinian women have been able to play professionally since the 2019–20 season, when the league officially moved towards professionalism.

The Rise of the Brasileirão Feminino

The rise of the Brasileirão on the global stage is not limited to the men’s game. While the men’s league continues to grow internationally, the Brasileirão Feminino is also beginning to gain serious traction.

A clear example of that growth came with the Supercopa Feminina final. The match between Palmeiras and Corinthians on Saturday, 7 February, drew significant attention, with 21.8 million viewers tuning in to watch the final.

Figures like that highlight just how much interest in the women’s game is increasing across Brazil. As visibility continues to grow through television coverage and major competitions, the women’s league is slowly building its own identity and audience alongside the already well-established men’s competition.

As of 2026, clubs competing in the Brazilian Serie A are required to have fully funded women’s youth structures in order to obtain their licence.

That includes operating under-17 and under-20 women’s teams, a requirement introduced as part of the Brasileirão’s wider effort to strengthen the women’s game across the country.

The rule is designed to encourage long-term development rather than short-term investment, ensuring that clubs build proper pathways for young female players. By forcing top-flight clubs to invest in youth systems, Brazil is aiming to create a stronger talent pipeline and further accelerate the growth of the women’s game at both domestic and international level.

Palmeiras also have huge plans for 2026 when it comes to the growth of their women’s department. The club have allocated 23.4 million Brazilian Reais towards the women’s programme, showing the level of investment now being placed into the women’s game.

Part of that investment includes the construction of a new centre of excellence in Vinhedo, a facility designed to give players access to world-class resources. The project is inspired by European giants such as Barcelona, aiming to ensure that athletes benefit not only from high-level football training, but also from modern recovery systems, sports science, and advanced data analytics.

The Marta Effect

When you think of women’s football, one of the first names that springs to mind, especially from a South American point of view, is the legendary Brazilian Marta, who remains one of the true icons of the women’s game.

Although she is now playing in the NWSL with Orlando Pride, her presence and influence continue to be felt strongly within the domestic game in Brazil. Marta has helped raise the visibility of the sport and played a role in attracting sponsors and investment, not just for the national team, but also in the domestic league structure.

Her impact has also extended beyond the pitch. Marta was a key figure behind an initiative dubbed ‘Marta Law’, designed to promote and celebrate women’s football in Brazil. This helps create a national fund for women’s football to pay for youth academies and ensure that there are equal facilities.  The date of this celebration is on Marta’s birthday.

Through both her playing career and her work away from the pitch, Marta continues to play a major role in shaping the future of the women’s game in Brazil.

Club Legends and Youth-Driven Focus for Olimpia of Paraguay

Club Olimpia are one of the biggest sides in Paraguayan football, both on the men’s and women’s side of the game. In recent years, both teams have enjoyed strong success domestically.

Over the past few seasons, Olimpia’s women’s side have lifted two league titles, winning the championship in 2022 and 2023 as they continue to make their mark on the women’s game in Paraguay.

What has also stood out about this Olimpia side is their approach to youth development. Their first-team squad has a drastically lower average age compared to many other teams in the division, as the club continues to prioritise bringing young players into the senior setup.

One of the biggest examples of this approach is Claudia Martinez, who was just 16 years old when Olimpia offered her a professional contract, highlighting the club’s belief in developing the next generation of players.

“Our club is focused on promoting our most outstanding athletes to the first team,” Club President of their Women’s Team, Jose Lezcano, tells WFI.

“In that effort, we have drastically reduced the average age, so that young players can complete the training cycle at the club and thus be able to reach the first division.

“Regarding the issue of contracts, we have been the first in Paraguayan football to offer 3 to 4-year contracts to players we believe have potential.

“As an example of this work and process we initiated, we have Claudia Martínez, who had signed with us for three years.

“The offer came in the first year due to her outstanding performance. She was only 16 years old when we signed her first professional contract.”

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Claudia Martinez spent two years at the Paraguayan outfit before earning a move to Washington Spirit, where she will play in the NWSL in the coming year.

She is already a senior international for the Paraguayan national team, showing just how quickly her rise in the game has come.

Despite playing just six matches at international level, she has already scored seven goals, including appearances at the most recent Copa America in Ecuador. During that tournament, she made history by becoming the youngest player to score multiple goals in a single Copa America match, breaking the previous record held by Venezuela’s Deyna Castellanos, where Martinez also finished as joint top scorer.

Lezcano also touched on the setup at Olimpia, adding: “Regarding expanding talent acquisition from the club, we are focused on making the acquisitions at the earliest possible age with a professional scouting team, hired by the club and headed by Luis Alberto Monzón, a club legend.

“The women’s football department accompanies the whole process; we even have people who travel to the interior of Paraguay with this team of talent seekers, we do trials, we do activities to see the most outstanding players in their respective cities.”

“In women’s football, it forms part of the organisational chart of the club’s football department. The club’s football sporting director is Aristides Masi, and Melissa Parada heads the women’s football department.

“This delineation within the organisational chart allows us to work in an orderly manner and manage the budget allocated to the recruitment, training, and consolidation of our athletes.”

A professional set-up is clearly the key to how Olimpia are increasing opportunities for women to get involved in the game.

FIFA’s New Global Tournaments

In 2026, the first edition of the FIFA Women’s Intercontinental Cup took place in London, England, where Corinthians narrowly missed out on the trophy in a 3–2 aggregate defeat to Arsenal.

It marked the first tournament of its kind and represents another step forward in the global growth of the women’s game. Competitions like this give clubs from South America the opportunity to compete against some of the strongest sides in the world on a regular basis. For players, it also provides another major incentive, knowing that by winning the Copa Libertadores, they could earn the chance to compete on the global stage.

Looking further ahead, as well as the Champions Cup, FIFA have also confirmed that a Women’s Club World Cup will take place every four years to determine the best women’s club team in the world. The competition is expected to feature 19 clubs, with the first edition currently scheduled for 2028.

While the host nation has not yet been announced, the introduction of global club competitions like these shows just how quickly the women’s game is evolving. For South America and the wider football world, it is another sign that the sport is entering a new and exciting era.

The era of simply playing for the love of the game is slowly evolving into an era of professional growth and competitive dominance. Investment is rising, audiences are growing, and the visibility of the women’s game continues to reach new heights ahead of a big World Cup in 2027.