Japan received high marks from world soccer's governing body FIFA on Wednesday, when it released its evaluation of the three bids to host the 2023 Women's World Cup.

A joint bid by Australia and New Zealand garnered the highest overall average score of 4.1 out of 5, while Japan scored 3.9 and Colombia 2.8.

The Australia-New Zealand bid was boosted by financial commitments to operating costs by both nations' governments, although the evaluation made note of the difficulties involved in a cross-border competition.

Japan's bid was praised for the quality of its infrastructure and commercial viability. But the review also noted that the July-August window FIFA desires corresponds to the most inhospitable part of Japan's summer.

"(Japan's bid) proposes a very compact tournament footprint with excellent general infrastructure, including high-speed intercity connectivity and fairly short distances between the proposed venues — all of which would be viewed in a very positive light by the players, teams and spectators," the summary said.

Although Colombia's bid met FIFA's minimum standards, the report said there were questions about whether the investment needed to pull off the event in that country would be available.