Women’s World Cup trivia: 75 facts about the International football competition!

Women’s World Cup is an International football competition that is held every four years since 1991!

So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about this football competition!

1. The FIFA Women’s World Cup is an international football competition
2. Contested by the senior women’s national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
3. The sport’s international governing body
4. The competition has been held every four years since 1991
5. The inaugural tournament, then called the FIFA Women’s World Championship, was held in China
6. Under the tournament’s current format, national teams vie for 23 slots in a three-year qualification phase
7. The host nation’s team is automatically entered as the 24th slot
8. The tournament proper, alternatively called the World Cup Finals
9. It is contested at venues within the host nation over a period of about one month
10. The seven FIFA Women’s World Cup tournaments have been won by four national teams
11. United States have won three times
12. Including the last one in 2015
13. The other winners are Germany, with two titles
14. Japan and Norway with one title each
15. Six countries have hosted the Women’s World Cup
16. China and United States have hosted twice
17. While Canada, France, Germany and Sweden have each hosted once
18. The first instance of a Women’s World Cup dates back to 1970
19. With the first international tournament taking place in Italy throughout July 1970
20. This was followed up by another unofficial tournament the following year
21. This time in Mexico
22. There Denmark would take out the title after defeating Mexico in the final
23. In the mid 1980s, the Mundialito was held in Italy across four editions
24. With both Italy and England winning two titles
25. Several countries lifted their ban on women’s football in the 1970s
26. Leading to new teams being established across Europe and North America
27. The first international women’s tournaments were held in Asia in 1975
28. And 1984 in Europe
29. Ellen Wille declared that she wanted better effort from the FIFA Congress in promoting the women’s game
30. This came in the form of an invitational tournament in China as a test to see if a global women’s World Cup was feasible
31. Twelve national teams took part in the competition
32. Four from UEFA
33. Three from AFC
34. Two from CONCACAF
35. And one each from CONMEBOL, CAF and OFC
36. The opening match of the tournament between China and Canada saw an attendance of 45,000 people
37. The tournament was deemed a success with crowds averaging 20,000
38. Norway defeated Sweden with 1- 0 in the final
39. While Brazil clinched third place by beating the hosts in a penalty shootout
40. The competition was deemed a success
41. On 30 June FIFA approved the establishment of an official World Cup
42. Which was to take place in 1991 again in China
43. Again, twelve teams competed
44. This time culminating in the United States defeating Norway in the final with 2- 1
45. Michelle Akers scored two goals
46. The 1995 edition in Sweden saw the experiment of a time-out concept throughout the tournament
47. Which was later tighten mid-tournament to only occur after a break in play
48. The time-out would only appear in the one tournament which saw it scrapped
49. 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
50. 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
51. She took off her jersey and waved it over her head
52. Showing her muscular torso and sports bra as she celebrated
53. The 1999 final in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, had an attendance of 90,185
54. A world record for a women’s sporting event
55. The 1999 and 2003 Women’s World Cups were both held in the United States
56. In 2003 China was supposed to host it
57. But the tournament was moved because of SARS
58. As compensation, China retained its automatic qualification to the 2003 tournament as host nation
59. And was automatically chosen to host the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup
60. Germany hosted the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup
61. As was decided by vote in October 2007
62. In March 2011, FIFA awarded Canada the right to host the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup
63. The 2015 edition saw the field expand from 16 to 24 teams
64. During the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, both Formiga of Brazil and Homare Sawa of Japan made a record of appearing in six World Cups
65. A feat that had never been achieved before by either female or male players
66. Christie Pearce is the oldest player to ever play in a Women’s World Cup match
67. At the age of 40 years
68. In March 2015, FIFA awarded France the right to host the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup over South Korea
69. Qualifying tournaments are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, Europe)
70. Theu are organised by their respective confederations
71. For each tournament, FIFA decides beforehand the number of berths awarded to each of the continental zones
72. Based on the relative strength of the confederations’ teams
73. The hosts of the World Cup receive an automatic berth in the finals
74. Since the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the number of finalists increased from 16 to 24
75. The final tournament has featured between 12 and 24 national teams competing over about one month in the host nation. There are two stages: the group stage followed by the knockout stage