FIFA World Cup Information and Background
In the realm of women’s football, FIFA World Cup is certainly the prestigious tournament in the calendar. However, it is not the only one. Unlike men’s football, the Olympics in women’s football shares the same level of prestige as the World Cup since the senior team are also eligible to play in the competition. Nonetheless, the latter remains to be considered the number one championship due to its constant expansion of contestants while the former one is still limited to 12 teams.
First held in 1991, the women World Cup has been contested every four year as well. However, the road for staging it began a while ago. The first international competition in women football was organised by the Federation of Independent European Female Football (FIEFF) and held in 1970 in Italy, which was won by Denmark. Then, some other similar tournaments entailed in various regions. There was one in Mexico 1971. In Asia, the first women football tournament was held in 1975 while in Europe, the first one was contested in 1984. Moreover, there was another international championship in Japan 1981 plus four more editions known as Mundialito in 1984, 1985,1986 and 1988. All of which were staged in Italy again.
The involvement of FIFA in women football started in 1988 when they held FIFA Women’s invitation tournament in China. It was the last step before the official FIFA Women World Cup took place three years later also in the same country.
World Cup Competition Details
There has been a continual and quite rapid expansion in the Women’s World Cup despite the fact that it just began in early 1990s. In the first two editions, there were only 12 participants. Then, in USA 1999, the world governing body in football had already expanded to 16 teams, then 24 teams for 2015 and 2019 and finally 32 teams in the upcoming one, Australia-New Zealand 2023. The format remains the same, the classic single round-robin tournament followed by the knockout stages to the final.
Since the beginning, USWNT, the current nickname for USA women team is still the stronger side. They have won the most titles with four trophies, including the first edition in 1991 and the last edition in 2019. The other three teams which have clinched the titles are Germany winning it twice plus Norway and Japan did it once. Meanwhile, the current record-holder in goal scoring is Marta of Brazil. She has netted 17 goals in four world cup editions, between 2007 and 2019. She could still add her tally, should she be called up for the next World Cup in Oceania.
Throughout the history, women football’s popularity has grown fairly well. In terms of the attendance at the stadium, the average spectators has added up from 18,000 in 1991 to more than 20,000 people in 2019 per game. The number of viewers on TV is also getting higher. It has reached more than 750 million fans watching the women world cup around the world.
FIFA also announces several accolades in each edition, just like in the men’s football. Those include The best player or Golden Ball, the top scorer or Golden Boots, the best goalkeeper or Golden Glove, best young player, FIFA Fair Play Award, best goal in the tournament plus all-star and dream team. There was one category which has been abolished. It was the most entertaining team, which was only awarded twice in 2003 and 2007.
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Historic Moments in the World Cup
In each and every edition of FIFA Women’s World Cup, there has always been distinguished story and iconic moment to remember.
In its inauguration, USA clinched their first title. A brace from Michelle Akers helped them beat Norway 2-1 in the final. In the second edition, It was Norway which avenged their loss on Nordic soil by thumping Mia Hamm and Co 1-0 at the last four and went all the way to defeat Germany 2-0 in the summit. They were the first European team to win it.
In 1999, USWNT were involved in a tough affair at the final and had to rely on penalties to win over China. Meanwhile, in 2003, China lost their hosting rights due to the SARS outbreak and USA once again hosted the tournament after the previous edition. Unfortunately, the reigning champions failed to defend the title. Germany was the new champion after crushing Sweden 2-1. Four years later China did have their turn to host the tournament for the second time. Sadly, they failed to optimise their opportunity to clinch the silverware. Germany led by Brigit Prinz in the squad were the first team to retain the title. They smashed the favorite Brazil 2-0 in the summit.
The sixth and seventh editions marked the back-to-back final between Japan and USA. Japan stunned Alex Morgan and Co in Germany 2011 by winning on penalties, whereas four years later, Jill Ellis’s girls had their turn to revenge their defeat by trashing the Asian Champions 5-2 in Canada. Last but not least, USA finally defended the trophy in France 2019. Megan Rapinoe and Co stomped the dark horse Netherlands which performed well in the competition by two goals to nil.
List of Past Finals and Winners
- 1991 in Quangzou, China USA vs Norway 2-1
- 1995 in Solna, Sweden Norway vs Germany. 2-0
- 1999 in Pasadena, USA USA vs China 0-0 (5-4) penalties
- 2003 in Carson, USA Germany vs Sweden 2-1.
- 2007 in Shanghai, China Germany vs Brazil 2-0
- 2011 in Frankfurt, Germany Japan vs USA 2-2 (3-1) penalties
- 2015 in Vancouver, Canada USA vs Japan 5-2
- 2019 in Lyon, France USA vs Netherlands 2-1
- 2023 in Australia-New Zealand ??
