FIFA Women's World Cup

The FIFA Women's World Cup is an exciting international association football competition for women's national teams from around the world. It is organized by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the group that controls soccer globally. The tournament happens every four years, starting in 1991. The first event was in China.

In this competition, 32 teams play to become the world’s best. The country hosting the event gets one spot automatically, and other teams fight for the remaining places during a three-year qualifying period. The main tournament, called the World Cup Finals, happens over about one month in the host country’s stadiums.

So far, nine tournaments have been held, and five different countries have won. The United States has won the most, with four titles. Other champions are Germany with two titles, and Japan, Norway, and Spain, each with one title. Eight different countries have hosted the event, with China and the United States each hosting twice.

The most recent tournament in 2023 was hosted by Australia and New Zealand. This was special because it was the first time the Women’s World Cup was held in the Southern Hemisphere and the first time two countries hosted it together. The next tournament in 2027 will be in Brazil, marking the first time it will be held in South America. After that, in 2031, the tournament is planned to be hosted by Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico, and the United States, which would be the first time more than two countries host and the first time with 48 teams.

Format

Qualification

Teams from different parts of the world play in qualifying tournaments to earn their spot in the FIFA Women's World Cup. These tournaments happen in six areas: Africa, Asia, North and Central America and the Caribbean, South America, Oceania, and Europe. Each area has its own football organization that runs these tournaments. The host country of the World Cup gets an automatic spot in the final event. Since 2015, the number of teams in the final tournament has grown from 16 to 24, and it will increase to 32 teams. Starting in 2031, the tournament will grow even more to include 48 teams.

Final tournament

The final part of the FIFA Women's World Cup features between 12 and 32 teams (and will be 48 starting in 2031) who compete in the host country for about one month. The tournament has two main parts: the group stage and the knockout stage.

In the group stage, teams are split into groups of four. Each team plays three matches against the other teams in their group. The teams are ranked based on points they earn from wins and draws, as well as goals scored. The top teams from each group move on to the knockout stage, where they compete in one-match rounds until a winner is decided. Starting in 2031, the tournament will include a round of 32 to match the larger number of teams.

History

The FIFA Women's World Cup started in 1970 in Italy, where Denmark won the first tournament. Over the years, more countries let women play football, and new teams joined in.

In 1991, FIFA began the official Women's World Cup in China. The United States won the first official tournament, beating Norway 2–1.

Since then, the tournament happens every four years. Famous moments include Brandi Chastain’s celebration in 1999 and the United States winning again in 2019. In 2023, Australia and New Zealand hosted the event together for the first time, with Spain winning the title. The tournament will keep growing, with more teams joining each time.

Trophy

The current trophy for the FIFA Women's World Cup was made in 1998 for the 1999 tournament. It has a spiral shape with a football on top and is about 47 centimeters tall. Each winning team gets a copy of the trophy to keep, while the real one stays with FIFA. Since 2007, the winning team also gets a special badge to wear on their jerseys until the next tournament.

Hosts

The FIFA Women's World Cup is a big soccer tournament for women's teams from all over the world. It happens every four years. The first one was played in China.

Attendance

See also: List of sports attendance figures

Notes:

• The 2003 Women's World Cup was planned to be in China. But because of a health problem, it was moved to the United States.
• The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup had more people watching than any other FIFA event, except for the men's FIFA World Cup.

Results

Further information: List of FIFA Women's World Cup finals

See also: FIFA Women's World Cup hosts

Notes

Many countries have played in the Women's World Cup. The United States has done the best, winning the tournament four times. They have also been in many finals and often reached the top four places.

Teams reaching the top four

host nation

Best performance by confederations

See also: FIFA Women's World Cup performance by confederation

As of 2023, most of the world's football regions have had teams reach the final of the Women's World Cup, except for Africa and Oceania. Brazil made it to a final but did not win. Nigeria was the best African team, reaching the quarter-finals in 1999. Australia and New Zealand are the teams from Oceania, but Australia only advanced after joining a different football group, while New Zealand has not moved past the early rounds.

The United States and Norway are the only teams to have won the World Cup in tournaments hosted by their own football regions. The U.S. won in 1999 and 2015, and Norway won in 1995.

Broadcasting and revenue

The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Final was very popular in America, with almost 23 million people watching. This was more than the viewers for the 2015 NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup. Over 750 million people around the world watched the tournament.

In 2023, the Women's World Cup made $570 million. This is less than what the 2018 men's tournament made, which was $6.1 billion. In 2023, FIFA showed the Women's World Cup on television separately from the men's tournament for the first time.

Records and statistics

The FIFA Women's World Cup has some amazing records and statistics. Players who are still playing are shown in boldface. There are top goal scorers from both players and countries.

Awards

At the end of each FIFA Women's World Cup, special awards are given to players and teams for things other than just their final positions.

There are several awards given after the tournament by experts and fans. The Golden Ball goes to the best player of the tournament. The Golden Boot is for the player who scores the most goals. The Golden Glove goes to the best goalkeeper. The FIFA Young Player Award is for the best player under 21 years old. The FIFA Fair Play Trophy is given to the team that shows the best sportsmanship. Fans also vote for the Player of the Match after each game and the Goal of the Tournament after the World Cup ends.

Some older awards are no longer given out, like the All-Star Squad and the Most Entertaining Team.

Predecessors

The FIFA Women's World Cup has a rich history with several important tournaments that came before it. These include the 1970 Women's World Cup, the 1971 Women's World Cup, the Women's World Invitational Tournament held from 1978 to 1987, Mundialito (women) from 1981 to 1988, and the 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament. These events helped build excitement and support for women's football before the official FIFA Women's World Cup began.