Soccer-France to host 2019 women's World Cup

March 19 (Reuters) - France will host the 2019 women's World Cup and the Under-20 women's tournament in 2018 after beating off competition from South Korea for the hosting rights, FIFA said on Thursday. Five countries had originally declared an interest in staging the events but England, New Zealand and South Africa fell by the wayside last year leaving France and South Korea to battle it out. The decision to award France the two events was taken by the FIFA Executive Committee, the world body said in a statement. (Reporting by Toby Davis; editing by xxx)