Canadian host cities for 2015 Women's World Cup unveiled

The six Canadian host cities for the 2015 Women’s World Cup are Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Montreal, Ottawa and Moncton, N.B.

They were announced at a news conference on Parliament Hill Friday.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter, Canadian Soccer Association president Dr. Domenic Maestracci and Bal Gosal, the minister of state for amateur sport were on hand for the announcement.

“We are extremely grateful to FIFA for providing us with the opportunity to host this most important competition," Maestracci said.

"The sport of soccer continues to gain momentum both as a participatory and spectator experience in our country, with nearly half of all participants female. We thank the government of Canada and our provincial and municipal government partners for their outstanding support to ensure we will continue that growth through 2015 and beyond.”

While Toronto’s BMO Field would be an ideal destination, the city won’t be taking part because it will host the 2015 Pan American Games.

Blatter pointed out that Canada has already made history as World Cup host with the tournament set to expand from 16 to 24 countries and from 32 to 52 matches in 2015.

Sixteen teams competed in the 2011 World Cup in Germany.

Canada previously hosted the inaugural women's Under-20 World Cup in 2002, as well as the men's Under-17 World Cup (in 1987) and the men's Under-20 World Cup (in 2007).

The World Cup, which will kick off in June 2015, is the largest single sporting event for women.

Games will be played at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, B.C. Place in Vancouver, Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Moncton Stadium, and the football stadium under construction in Winnipeg, and the revamped Lansdowne Park in Ottawa.

The federal government has committed up to $15 million to the tournament. That will not be used for infrastructure.