| FIFA Women's World Cup | |
| Organiser: | FIFA |
| Related Comps: | FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup FIFA World Cup |
| Region: | International |
| Current Champions: | (1st title) (2023) |
| Broadcasters: | List of broadcasters |
The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's international governing body. The competition has been held every four years and one year after the men's FIFA World Cup since 1991, when the inaugural tournament, then called the FIFA Women's World Championship, was held in China. Under the tournament's current format, national teams vie for the remaining 31 slots in a three-year qualification phase. The host nation's team is automatically entered as the first slot. The tournament, called the World Cup Finals, is contested at venues within the host nation(s) over about one month.
The nine FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments have been won by five national teams. The United States have won four times. The other winners are Germany, with two titles, and Japan, Norway, and Spain with one title each.
Eight countries have hosted the Women's World Cup. China and the United States have each hosted the tournament twice, while Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, and Sweden have each hosted it once.
The 2023 competition was hosted by Australia and New Zealand, making it the first edition to be held in the Southern Hemisphere, the first Women's World Cup to be hosted by two countries, as well as the first FIFA competition for either men or women to be held across two confederations.
The 2027 competition will be hosted by Brazil, making it the first edition to be held in South America.
See main article: FIFA Women's World Cup qualification.
Qualifying tournaments are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, Europe), and are organized by their respective confederations: Confederation of African Football (CAF), Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). For each tournament, FIFA decides beforehand the number of berths awarded to each of the continental zones, based on the relative strength of the confederations' teams. The hosts of the World Cup receive an automatic berth in the finals. Except for the UEFA, other confederations organize its qualification campaign throughout continental tournaments. Since the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, the number of finalists increased from 16 to 24 and now 32.[1]
The final tournament has featured between 12 and 32 national teams competing over about one month in the host nation(s). There are two stages: the group stage followed by the knockout stage.[2]
In the group stage, teams are drawn into groups of four teams each. Each group plays a round-robin tournament, in which each team is scheduled for three matches against other teams in the same group. The last round of matches of each group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among all four teams. In the 2015 24-team format, the two teams finishing first and second in each group and the four best teams among those ranked third qualified for the round of 16, also called the knockout stage. Points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since 1994, Three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss (before, winners received two points).
The ranking of each team in each group is determined as follows:[2]
The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winners if necessary. It begins with the round of 16. This is followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals, the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final.
The first instance of a Women's World Cup dates back to 1970 in Italy, with the first tournament of that name taking place in July 1970, which Denmark won.[3] This was followed by another unofficial World Cup tournament in Mexico in 1971, in which Denmark won the title after defeating Mexico, 3–0, in the final at the Azteca Stadium.[4] [5] [6] In the 1980s, the Mundialito was held in Italy across four editions with both Italy and England winning two titles.[7]
Several countries lifted bans on women's football in the 1970s, leading to new teams being established in many countries. After official continental women's tournaments were held in Asia in 1975[8] and Europe in 1984, Ellen Wille declared that she wanted better effort from the FIFA Congress in promoting the women's game.[9] This came in the form of the 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament in China as a test to see if a global women's World Cup was feasible. Twelve national teams took part in the competition – four from UEFA, three from AFC, two from CONCACAF, one each from CONMEBOL, CAF and OFC. After the opening match of the tournament between China and Canada was attended by 45,000 people, the tournament was deemed a success, with crowds averaging 20,000. Norway, who was the European champions, defeated Sweden, 1–0, in the final, while Brazil clinched third place by beating the hosts in a penalty shootout.[10] The competition was deemed a success and on 30 June FIFA approved the establishment of an official World Cup, which was to take place in 1991 again in China. Again, twelve teams competed, this time culminating in the United States defeating Norway in the final, 2–1, with Michelle Akers scoring two goals.[11]
The 1995 edition in Sweden saw the experiment of a time-out concept throughout the tournament which was later tightened mid-tournament to only occur after a break in play. The time-out only appeared in the one tournament which saw it scrapped. The final of the 1995 edition saw Norway, who scored 17 goals in the group stage, defeat Germany, 2–0, to capture their only title.[12] In the 1999 edition, one of the most famous moments of the tournament was American defender Brandi Chastain's victory celebration after scoring the Cup-winning penalty kick against China. She took off her jersey and waved it over her head (as men frequently do) as she celebrated. The 1999 final in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, had an attendance of 90,185.[13]
The 1999 and 2003 Women's World Cups were both held in the United States; in 2003 China was supposed to host it, but the tournament was moved because of SARS.[14] As compensation, China retained their automatic qualification to the 2003 tournament as host nation, and was automatically chosen to host the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup. Germany hosted the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, as decided by vote in October 2007. In March 2011, FIFA awarded Canada the right to host the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. The 2015 competition saw the field expand from 16 to 24 teams.[15]
During the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, both Formiga of Brazil and Homare Sawa of Japan appeared in their record sixth World Cup,[16] a feat that had never been achieved before by either female or male players. Christie Pearce became the oldest player to ever play in a Women's World Cup match, at the age of 40 years.[17] In March 2015, FIFA awarded France the right to host the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup over South Korea.[18]
In the 2019 edition, which was held in France, the United States won the tournament for the fourth time.
In 2023, Australia and New Zealand hosted the FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time as joint hosts, and the number of participants was expanded from 24 to 32. It was also the first tournament to be held in the Southern Hemisphere. With Australia and New Zealand respectively being members of the Asian Football Confederation and Oceania Football Confederation, this was the first FIFA senior competition to be hosted across two confederations. Spain won their first-ever title, defeating England 1-0 in the final. This made Spain the 2nd nation to win both the Men's and Women's World Cup, after Germany.
The current trophy was designed in 1998 by William Sawaya for the 1999 tournament and takes the form of a spiral band, enclosing a football at the top. It was sculpted by Sawaya & Moroni in Milan and stands 47cm (19inches) tall, weighs 4.6kg (10.1lb) and is made of sterling silver clad in 23-karat yellow and white gold.[19] In the 2010s, it was fitted with a cone-shaped base. Underneath the base, the name of each of the tournament's previous winners is engraved.[20] The trophy had an estimated value in 2015 of approximately $30,000; by contrast, the men's World Cup trophy is fabricated in 18-karat gold and has a precious metal value of $150,000. However, a new Winner's Trophy is constructed for each women's champion to take home, while there is only one original women's trophy which is retained by FIFA with each women's champion taking home a replica trophy.[21]
Since 2007, the winners are also awarded the FIFA Champions Badge, which is worn on the jerseys of the winning team until the winners of the next tournament have been decided.[22]
See main article: FIFA Women's World Cup hosts.
| Confederation | Total | Hosts | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asian Football Confederation (AFC) | 3 | 1991 | |
| Confederation of African Football (CAF) | 0 | ||
| Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) | 3 | 1999 | |
| South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) | 1 | 2027 | |
| Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) | 1 | 2023 | |
| Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) | 3 | 1995 |
See also: List of sports attendance figures.
| Year | Hosts | Venues/ Cities | Total attendance † | Matches | Average attendance | Highest attendances | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Venue | Game(s) | |||||||
| 1991 |  China | 6/4 | 510,000 | 26 | 18,344 | 65,000 | Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou | China PR 4–0 Norway, Opening match | |
| 1995 |  Sweden | 5/5 | 112,213 | 26 | 4,316 | 17,158 | Råsunda Stadium, Solna | Germany 0–2 Norway, final | |
| 1999 |  United States | 8/8 | 1,214,209 | 32 | 37,944 | 90,185 | Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California | United States 0–0 (5–4p) China PR, final | |
| 2003 | United States | 6/6 | 679,664 | 32 | 21,240 | 34,144 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Washington, D.C. | United States 3–1 Sweden, quarter-final | |
| 2007 | China | 5/5 | 1,190,971 | 32 | 37,218 | 55,832 | Tianjin Olympic Center, Tianjin | China PR 2–0 New Zealand, group stage | |
| 2011 |  Germany | 9/9 | 845,751 | 32 | 26,430 | 73,680 | Olympiastadion, Berlin | Germany 2–1 Canada, group stage | |
| 2015 |  Canada | 6/6 | 1,353,506 | 52 | 26,029 | 54,027 | BC Place, Vancouver | England 2–1 Canada, quarter-final | |
| 2019 |  France | 9/9 | 1,131,312 | 52 | 21,756 | 57,900 | Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Décines-Charpieu | United States 2–0 Netherlands, final | |
| 2023 |  Australia New Zealand | 10/9 | 1,978,274 | 64 | 30,911 | 75,784 | Stadium Australia, Sydney | Five matches, all at Stadium Australia. | |
| 2027 |  Brazil | 10/10 | TBA | TBA | |||||
| Overall | 9,015,900 | 348 | 25,908 | 90,185 | Rose Bowl, Pasadena (1999) | ||||
Notes:
See also: FIFA Women's World Cup hosts.
| Year | Hosts | Final | Third-place playoff | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width= 150px | Champions | width= 70px | Score | width= 150px | Runners-up | width= 150px | Third place | width= 70px | Score | width= 150px | Fourth place | |
| 1 | 1991 | China | 2–1 | 4–0 | 12 | |||||||
| 2 | 1995 | Sweden | 2–0 | 2–0 | 12 | |||||||
| 3 | 1999 | United States | 0–0 | 0–0 | 16 | |||||||
| 4 | 2003 | 3–1 | 16 | |||||||||
| 5 | 2007 | China | 2–0 | 4–1 | 16 | |||||||
| 6 | 2011 | Germany | 2–2 | 2–1 | 16 | |||||||
| 7 | 2015 | Canada | 5–2 | 1–0 | 24 | |||||||
| 8 | 2019 | France | 2–0 | 2–1 | 24 | |||||||
| 9 | 2023 | Australia | 1–0 | 2–0 | 32 | |||||||
| 10 | 2027 | Brazil | 32 | |||||||||
In total, 44 nations have played in at least one Women's World Cup. Of those, five nations have won the World Cup. With four titles, the United States is the most successful Women's World Cup team; it is one of only seven nations to play in every World Cup. They have also had the most top-four finishes (8), medals (8), as well as final appearances (5), including the longest streak of three consecutive finals in 2011, 2015, and 2019.
| Team | Title(s) | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | data-sort-type="number" | Top 4 total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bgcolor=gold | bgcolor=gold | 4 (1991, 1999, 2015, 2019) | 1 (2011) | 3 (1995, 2003, 2007) | 8 | ||
| bgcolor=gold | bgcolor=gold | 2 (2003, 2007) | 1 (1995) | 2 (1991, 2015) | 5 | ||
| bgcolor=gold | bgcolor=gold | 1 (1995) | 1 (1991) | 2 (1999, 2007) | 4 | ||
| bgcolor=gold | bgcolor=gold | 1 (2011) | 1 (2015) | 2 | |||
| bgcolor=gold | bgcolor=gold | 1 (2023) | 1 | ||||
| bgcolor=silver | bgcolor=silver | 1 (2003) | 4 (1991, 2011, 2019, 2023) | 5 | |||
| bgcolor=silver | bgcolor=silver | 1 (2023) | 1 (2015) | 1 (2019) | 3 | ||
| bgcolor=silver | bgcolor=silver | 1 (2007) | 1 (1999) | 2 | |||
| bgcolor=silver | bgcolor=silver | 1 (1999) | 1 (1995) | 2 | |||
| bgcolor=silver | bgcolor=silver | 1 (2019) | 1 | ||||
| 1 (2003) | 1 | ||||||
| 1 (2011) | 1 | ||||||
| 1 (2023*) | 1 | ||||||
* host nation
, four of the six FIFA confederations have made it to a Women's World Cup final, the only exceptions being CAF (Africa) and the OFC (Oceania). CONMEBOL is the only confederation to have made a World Cup final without winning, following Brazil's defeat in the 2007 final. The farthest advancing African team was Nigeria, who were eliminated in the quarter-finals in 1999. Oceania has sent two teams, Australia and New Zealand, to the World Cup, but Australia did not advance from the group stage until after the country's football association moved to the Asian Football Confederation, and New Zealand (which remains in the OFC) has never advanced to the knockout rounds.
The United States and Norway are the only teams to have won a tournament hosted by their own confederations, with the U.S. winning in 1999 (at home) and 2015 (in Canada), and Norway in 1995 (in Sweden).
| Confederation | AFC | CAF | CONCACAF | CONMEBOL | OFC | UEFA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| Runners-up | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| Third place | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| Fourth place | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Finalists | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| Semi-finalists | 5 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 20 | |
| Quarter-finalists | 16 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 40 | |
| Top 16 (since 2015) | 9 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 23 | |
| Qualifiers | 35 | 20 | 26 | 18 | 9 | 60 |
, the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Final was the most watched soccer match in American history with nearly 23 million viewers,[26] more than the 2015 NBA Finals and Stanley Cup.[27] It was also the most watched Spanish-language broadcast in tournament history.[26] More than 750 million viewers were reported to have watched the tournament worldwide.[28]
The 2015 Women's World Cup generated almost $73 million.[29] By comparison, that equates to 1% of the revenue generated by the 2018 men's tournament of $6.1 billion.[30] [31]
In 2023, FIFA separated broadcast rights for the Women's World Cup from the men's tournament for the first time, and president Gianni Infantino suggested in May 2023 that the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup might not be broadcast in the "Big 5" European countries due to disappointing offers.[32] [33], FIFA had yet to reach broadcast agreements in Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Japan, or the United Kingdom, with German broadcasters ZDF and ARD bidding 3% as much for the Women's World Cup as the 2022 men's World Cup, French and Spanish broadcasters less than 5%, and Italian broadcasters less than 1%.[33]
See main article: FIFA Women's World Cup records and statistics.
Boldface indicates a player still playing.
| Rank | Player | Goals scored |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marta | 17 |
| 2 | Birgit Prinz | 14 |
| Abby Wambach | ||
| 4 | Michelle Akers | 12 |
| 5 | Cristiane | 11 |
| Sun Wen | ||
| Bettina Wiegmann | ||
| 8 | Christine Sinclair | 10 |
 Ann Kristin Aarønes | ||
| Carli Lloyd | ||
| Rank | Country | Goals scored | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 142 | ||
| 2 | 129 | ||
| 3 | 100 | ||
| 4 | 83 | ||
| 5 | 71 | ||
| 6 | 56 | ||
| 7 | 55 | ||
| 8 | 54 | ||
| 9 | 48 | ||
| 10 | 44 |
See main article: FIFA Women's World Cup awards. At the end of each World Cup, awards are presented to select players and teams for accomplishments other than their final team positions in the tournament.
| World Cup | Golden Ball | Golden Boot | Goals | Golden Glove | Clean sheets | FIFA Young Player Award | FIFA Fair Play Trophy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 China | Carin Jennings | Michelle Akers | 10 | Not awarded | N/A | Not awarded | ||
| 1995 Sweden | Hege Riise | Ann Kristin Aarønes | 6 | |||||
| 1999 United States | Sun Wen | Sun Wen Sissi | 7 | Gao Hong Briana Scurry | 5 | |||
| 2003 United States | Birgit Prinz | Birgit Prinz | 7 | Silke Rottenberg | 5 | |||
| 2007 China | Marta | Marta | 7 | Nadine Angerer | 6 | |||
| 2011 Germany | Homare Sawa | Homare Sawa | 5 | Hope Solo | 2 | Caitlin Foord | ||
| 2015 Canada | Carli Lloyd | Célia Šašić | 6 | Hope Solo | 5 | Kadeisha Buchanan | ||
| 2019 France | Megan Rapinoe | Megan Rapinoe | 6 | Sari van Veenendaal | 3 | Giulia Gwinn | ||
| 2023 Australia/New Zealand | Aitana Bonmatí | Hinata Miyazawa | 5 | Mary Earps | 3 | Salma Paralluelo |
See main article: world cups.
See main article: world championships.