Japan has officially ended its bid to host the tournament, leaving Colombia as the only other country in contention with Australian-New Zealand.

The Japan Football Association confirmed its withdrawal in a press conference on Monday.

The FIFA Council will make a decision on the host in an open vote on Thursday, with an announcement expected to be released Friday.

If the decision is in Australia's favour, Ballarat will likely put its hand up to host one of the 32 countries set to compete for soccer's ultimate prize.

Ballarat City chair David Sproules, told The Courier a fortnight ago that he was excited about the possibility.

"The women's game is a really high priority for Ballarat City to support the region," he said.

"We think something like this would be enormous for Ballarat."

Sproules said the club had held discussions with the City of Ballarat regarding the possibility which were well received.

He said it would be a great opportunity to make improvements to Morshead Park and grow female participation rates in Ballarat.

"We would love to have more girls playing and there is a real opportunity to bring more in," he said.

"We think the Women's World Cup could be a great carrot to engage the women's side of the game."

Ballarat's Morshead Park served as the base of Bahrain's national team ahead of the 2015 Asian Cup.