UK public-service broadcaster the BBC has acquired rights to the 2019 edition of football’s Fifa Women’s World Cup, which will be staged in France.
The BBC will broadcast extensive coverage of every match across television, radio and online.
In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, the BBC’s director of sport Barbara Slater said competition for securing rights to the tournament had “never been tougher”.
The BBC’s coverage of the 2015 World Cup in Canada proved a success, with a peak television audience of 2.4m tuning in to watch England’s semi-final defeat against Japan. The tournament reached more than 12m on television alone, unprecedented figures for women’s football in the UK.
The public-service broadcaster will also show select 2019 World Cup qualification matches featuring the home nations later this year.