Australia and New Zealand have put together a formidable joint bid for the hosting rights and, after Japan dropped out of the race this week, find themselves in a two-horse race with Colombia the only other remaining hopeful.

Winning the bid would be another huge boost for all sport in our country, but particularly women's sport which is already riding a massive wave of popularity.

The bid to host the FIFA Women's World Cup comes after Australia had spectacular success in hosting the Women's T20 (cricket) World Cup in February and March this year.

Coming after a summer of one-sided men's Test matches where Australia proved far too good for the visiting Pakistan and New Zealand teams, the women's T20 World Cup provided fantastic entertainment for rusted-on cricket fans and newcomers alike.

The women played before big crowds at stadiums right across the country and televised matches attracted impressive TV ratings.

The tournament boosted even further the profiles of such Australian stars as Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy, Meg Lanning and Ash Gardner and will no doubt see more young girls picking up a cricket bat and ball this coming summer.

Hosting a FIFA Women's World Cup will have a similar impact.

Australia's Sam Kerr is already recognised as one of the best women's footballers on the planet and, just last week, the Central West's own Ellie Carpenter (pictured) signed on to play with French club Lyon.

And all this comes as a new survey reveals just how much Australian sporting fans adore our national women's teams.

True North Research conducted the survey that saw four women's national teams - cricket, football, rugby sevens and netball - take out the top four spots in terms of fans' emotional connection to the teams.

The women's teams attract a level of pride, trust, enjoyment and respect that the more highly paid (and highly publicised) men's teams just cannot match.

And if Australia can continue to attract international women's events to our shores, then that relationship between the fans and the stars will just keep growing.

These are exciting times for women's sport, and it is exciting for Australia to be at the forefront of a revolution.