The FIFA Women’s World Cup is a quadrennial football tournament in which the senior women’s national teams governed by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) compete in.
Since the inception of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991, the marquee football competition has been held one year after the men’s FIFA World Cup.
The United States won the first edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup held in China. Since then, five nations including the US have won the nine editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournaments.
While the United States are the most successful team in the tournament’s history with four titles, Germany are the second-most decorated team having won it twice. Norway, Japan and Spain have clinched the coveted title once each. Spain are the current champions, having beaten England 1-0 in the 2023 final at Stadium Australia in Sydney.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup has been hosted by eight nations so far. China and the United States staged the competition twice, while Sweden, Germany, Canada, France, Australia and New Zealand have hosted it once each.
The 2023 edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup was co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, the first time the tournament was staged in more than one country.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 was also the first edition to be hosted in the Southern Hemisphere and the first senior World Cup to be staged across multiple confederations, as Australia is in the Asian Confederation, while New Zealand is in the Oceania Confederation.
It was also the first edition with 32 teams, up from 24.
The 32-team tournament uses the same format as the men’s event from 1998 to 2022: eight groups of four, followed by a knockout stage from the round of 16.
The next edition, in 2027, will be held in Brazil. The 2031 tournament, to be hosted jointly by the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica, will be expanded again to 48 teams.
FIFA Women’s World Cup winners list
|
Year |
Hosts |
Winner |
Runner-up |
|
1991 |
China |
United States |
Norway |
|
1995 |
Sweden |
Norway |
Germany |
|
1999 |
United States |
United States |
China |
|
2003 |
United States |
Germany |
Sweden |
|
2007 |
China |
Germany |
Brazil |
|
2011 |
Germany |
Japan |
United States |
|
2015 |
Canada |
United States |
Japan |
|
2019 |
France |
United States |
Netherlands |
|
2023 |
Australia and New Zealand |
Spain |
England |
Photo credit: Alamy