Women's World Cup Soccer Facts

Women's FIFA World Cup has been played since the early 1990s and has become one of the most popular forms of spectator soccer in the United States since its inaugural season. The tournament is hosted every four years. The next Women's World Cup was scheduled to be hosted by Germany in 2011, with the slogan, "The Beautiful side of 20Eleven." The slogan plays on the saying "the beautiful game" and the fact there are 11 players on the field.

  1. Competitors and Groupings

    • There are six groupings or pools in the FIFA Women's World Cup. The North and Central America grouping has the United States, Costa Rica and Mexico. England, Germany, Switzerland, France and Sweden are in the European grouping. Japan, Korea DPR and Korea Republic headline the Asian pool. New Zealand is the only team to come out of Oceania. The South American grouping only has two squads: Brazil and Columbia. The African grouping also only has two teams, one from Nigeria and the other from Ghana.

    History

    • The first FIFA Women’s World Cup was hosted by the People’s Republic of China in 1991. Dr. Joao Havelange, FIFA president at the time, was mainly responsible for making the event happen. The United States took home the first FIFA women’s title, with Norway the runner-up followed by third-place Sweden. Since then, the tournament has been played every four years, with Sweden, the United States and China hosting the event.

    Champions

    • After the United States won, the next tournament, which was hosted by Sweden in 1995, was won by Norway. In 1999, the United States returned to the top, winning the tournament on home soil. Germany took the title in 2003 and 2007.

    U.S. Competition

    • The United States Soccer Federation is the main development program for professional soccer players. The United States has won the last two Olympic gold medals at the Summer Olympics, but has finished third in the last two Women’s FIFA World Cups.

      As of 2010, the United States was No. 1 in FIFA Women’s World rankings. The team has only lost four matches since the end of the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Former United States captain Kristine Lilly is the world’s all-time leader in games played with 342.

    Mia Hamm

    • Mia Hamm is one of the most accomplished strikers in the history of American women’s soccer. She was named FIFA World Player of the Year twice and is now a spokesperson for women’s sports worldwide. Now retired, Hamm was inducted into National Soccer Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility, having scored more international goals in her career than any player, male or female, in soccer history.