Women's football

The FIFA Women's World Cup

The FIFA Women's World Cup is the most important competition in women's football. Held every four years since 1991, it brings together 32 national teams in a month-long tournament that crowns the world champion of women's international football. The United States is the most successful team with four titles, with Spain as reigning champions after their 2023 win in Australia and New Zealand.

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What the Women's World Cup is

The Women's World Cup is the championship of women's international football.

The FIFA Women's World Cup is held every four years and is contested between national teams qualified through their continental confederations. The tournament has been organised by FIFA, the world football governing body, since 1991. The trophy is the FIFA Women's World Cup Trophy, kept by FIFA and presented to the winners after each final alongside a replica that the winning team keeps. The competition's prize money has grown significantly, with the 2023 edition offering total prize money of $110 million — significantly less than the men's World Cup but a major increase on previous editions.

The tournament was first held in 1991 in China, with the United States beating Norway 2-1 in the final at Tianhe Stadium in Guangzhou. The launch of the Women's World Cup came after sustained advocacy from women's football administrators including Norway's Ellen Wille, who addressed the 1986 FIFA Congress to push for a women's championship. The tournament has been held in eight different countries across its nine editions to date — China and the United States have each hosted twice, with Sweden, Germany, Canada, France, Australia, and New Zealand each hosting once.

How the tournament is organised

The Women's World Cup uses a group stage and knockout format similar to the men's World Cup.

The tournament currently features 32 teams, expanded from 24 for the 2023 edition. The competition runs over about one month in the host nation or nations. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four, with each team playing the others in their group once for three group-stage matches per team. The top two teams from each group advance to the round of 16. The knockout stage continues through the quarter-finals, semi-finals, third-place match, and final.

Three points are awarded for a group-stage win and one for a draw, with goal difference and goals scored as the main tiebreakers. The knockout matches use extra time and penalty shoot-outs if needed. From 2031, the Women's World Cup is set to expand to 48 teams, using a 12-group format and adding a round of 32 before the round of 16. The expansion mirrors the men's World Cup, which becomes a 48-team tournament from 2026.

How teams qualify

Teams qualify through continental confederation tournaments held in the years before each edition.

Each of FIFA's six continental confederations — UEFA (Europe), CONMEBOL (South America), Concacaf (North America), CAF (Africa), AFC (Asia), and OFC (Oceania) — runs its own qualifying competition. The number of places allocated to each confederation depends on the tournament format and FIFA's slot allocation for that edition. Under the current 32-team format, UEFA has the most direct places, followed by AFC, then CAF and Concacaf, CONMEBOL, and OFC, with additional places decided through inter-confederation play-offs. The host nation qualifies automatically, usually within its confederation's allocation.

The qualifying systems have varied over the years. The Copa América Femenina was historically used as the qualifying route for South American teams until 2025, when CONMEBOL introduced a separate Women's Nations League for World Cup qualifying. UEFA uses a dedicated qualifying tournament. The Concacaf W Championship and the AFC Women's Asian Cup serve as both continental championships and World Cup qualifying. The CAF Women's Africa Cup of Nations plays the same dual role for African teams. The Olympic Football tournament — also a major women's competition — has separate qualifying.

Read about women's football competitions

The most successful teams

Five different countries have won the Women's World Cup, with the United States by far the most successful.

The United States

The most successful team with four Women's World Cup titles. The USWNT won the inaugural 1991 tournament, then the 1999 edition on home soil, before back-to-back wins in 2015 (Canada) and 2019 (France). The team has reached at least the semi-finals in every World Cup until their round-of-16 exit in 2023. Legendary players include Michelle Akers, Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, Carli Lloyd, and Megan Rapinoe.

Germany

Two World Cup titles, won back-to-back in 2003 and 2007 — the only team other than the USA to win multiple titles. Germany's 2007 World Cup run was particularly distinctive, with the team not conceding a single goal across the entire tournament. The team is led historically by Birgit Prinz, who won the Golden Ball at the 2003 World Cup and was named FIFA Women's World Player of the Year three times.

Spain

One title — the most recent, in 2023 — but achieved as part of a broader rise in Spanish women's football alongside Barcelona's dominance of the UEFA Women's Champions League. Spain beat England 1-0 in the 2023 final at Stadium Australia in Sydney. The win made Spain the second nation to win both the men's and women's World Cup, after Germany.

Norway

One title, won in 1995 when they beat Germany 2-0 in the final at Råsunda Stadium in Stockholm. Norway was one of the early powers of women's international football, reaching the final twice and producing legendary players including Hege Riise, Linda Medalen, and Ada Hegerberg. Norwegian women's football was an early leader in Europe, with the country winning the inaugural 1987 European Championship.

Japan

One title, won in 2011 in Germany. Japan's run to the title came against the backdrop of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami earlier that year. The team beat the United States 3-1 on penalties in the final after a 2-2 draw — Japan's first major international football title and the first major football trophy for any Asian women's national team. Homare Sawa won the Golden Ball and the Golden Boot at the same tournament.

The 1999 USA final attendance record

The 1999 Women's World Cup final between the USA and China at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena drew 90,185 spectators — then the largest crowd ever to attend a women's sporting event. The final ended 0-0, with the USA winning the penalty shoot-out 5-4. The 1999 tournament is widely credited as the commercial breakthrough moment for women's football, with the host USA team's media profile expanding dramatically and Brandi Chastain's match-winning penalty kick becoming one of the most iconic images in the sport.

A short history

The Women's World Cup has grown from 12 teams in 1991 to 32 teams in 2023.

The first FIFA Women's World Cup was held in China in 1991 with 12 teams. The competition expanded to 16 teams in 1999, 24 teams in 2015, and 32 teams in 2023. The 2031 edition will feature 48 teams. The competition was originally called the "1st FIFA World Championship for Women's Football for the M&M's Cup" in 1991 — FIFA was hesitant to use the World Cup name until the tournament had proven itself. The "FIFA Women's World Cup" name was officially adopted from the 1995 edition.

The competition has grown significantly across the modern era in terms of global television audiences, prize money, attendance, and commercial profile. The 2019 final between the USA and the Netherlands drew a global television audience of over 82 million viewers. The 2023 tournament in Australia and New Zealand was the first to be held in the Southern Hemisphere and the first co-hosted Women's World Cup. The 2027 edition will be held in Brazil from 24 June to 25 July 2027 — the first Women's World Cup in South America. The 2031 edition is scheduled to be the first 48-team Women's World Cup, with FIFA still to formally appoint the host nation or nations.