The FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy has arrived at the second stop in Seoul as part of its Trophy Tour that involves the 32 participating countries including Japan, where the event started last week.

The welcoming of the Australia/New Zealand 2023 trophy took place at the Live Plaza of Starfield COEX Mall in Gangnam District, Seoul on Monday, with KFA Vice Presidents Hong Eunah and Lee Youngpyo, Korea Republic women’s national team coach Colin Bell, players Ji Soyun and Choe Yuri present at the event. KFA director Shin Ahyoung and football commentator Park Moonsung hosted the ceremony, where 120 fans who had applied for the entrance through KFA’s official marketing platform PlayKFA attended as well.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup Trophy Tour first took place 12 years ago at Germany 2011. The trophy set out its journey in Melbourne, Australia on 18 February to begin the events in Asia in Japan on 25 February, before visiting Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam and China PR as well as the rest of the 32 participating nations. The trophy will then visit the nine host cities in Australia and New Zealand in July to round off the tour. The number of participating teams in the Women’s World Cup has increased from 24 to 32 from these finals.

Sarah Gandoin, the head of FIFA delegates, said: “I’d like to thank the Korea Football Association and the embassies of the host countries Australia and New Zealand. It is a huge honour for me to take responsibility of the Trophy Tour and be part of this journey.”

“Every football player would compete for this trophy, but only one country will lift it. I’d like to congratulate Korea Republic women’s national team for qualifying for their fourth world finals and I hope they will perform well.”

Korea Republic women’s national team qualified for the Women’s World Cup for the first time at USA 2003, before going on to reach the finals three times in a row – in 2015, 2019 and 2023. Their best result to date is reaching the round of 16 at Canada 2015.
 

Hong Eunah, the KFA Vice President, said: “Our World Cup is not over yet: We’re about to experience special moments in which we’ll celebrate and express our emotions through the Women’s World Cup. We’ve learnt our lessons from the Arnold Clark Cup recently, and will improve in the buildup to the finals to play better football at the World Cup with unbreakable passion. I hope all the women will have chances to play and enjoy football, not just watching it in the meantime.”

Korea Republic women’s national team coach Colin Bell did not hesitate to show off his fluency in Korean when said: “We’ve got some great players like Ji Soyun and Choe Yuri. I think our team can be characterised by the technically gifted Ji, and dynamic and powerful Choe. These strengths are what I’m hoping to show the rest of the world at the Women’s World Cup in July. I want to achieve as much as we can at the world finals.”


 

Ji Soyun and Choe Yuri vowed that there would be no regrets after the finals. Ji said: “I’d love to touch the trophy, not just seeing it from distance. Our goal is to reach as high as we can get. If we play well against Colombia in our opener, we’ll be able to play some good football in the games to come as well.” Choe added: “This could be the first or the last World Cup for someone. For me this is the first one, but I’ll give my all as if this the first and the last.”

There were various events for the fans who flocked to the event, including a skill match that saw Choe Yuri’s team finish first with six touches in a keepy-uppy contest. A draw for the round-trip flights and the World Cup match tickets also took place. And there were photo zones with the World Cup trophy and the national team players as backdrops, for the fans to actually see the trophy and take pictures with it in the afternoon.