The first instance of a Women's World Cup dates back to
1970 in Italy, with the first tournament of that name taking place in July 1970, which Denmark won. This was followed by another non-FIFA World Cup tournament
in Mexico in 1971, in which
Denmark won the title after defeating
Mexico, 3–0, in the final at the
Azteca Stadium. In the 1980s, the
Mundialito was held in Italy across four editions with both
Italy and
England winning two titles. Several countries lifted bans on women's football in the 1970s, leading to new teams being established in many countries. After official continental women's tournaments were held
in Asia in 1975 and
Europe in 1984,
Ellen Wille declared that she wanted better effort from the
FIFA Congress in promoting the women's game. This came in the form of the
1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament in China as a test to see if a global women's World Cup was feasible. Twelve national teams took part in the competition – four from
UEFA, three from
AFC, two from
CONCACAF, one each from
CONMEBOL,
CAF and
OFC. After the opening match of the tournament between
China and
Canada was attended by 45,000 people, the tournament was deemed a success, with crowds averaging 20,000.
Norway, who was the
European champions, defeated
Sweden, 1–0, in the final, while
Brazil clinched third place by beating
the hosts in a penalty shootout. The competition was deemed a success and on 30 June FIFA approved the establishment of an official World Cup, which was to take place in
1991 again in China. Again, twelve teams competed, this time culminating in the
United States defeating Norway in the final, 2–1, with
Michelle Akers scoring two goals. The
1995 edition in Sweden saw the experiment of a timeout concept throughout the tournament which was later tightened mid-tournament to only occur after a break in play. The timeout only appeared in the one tournament which saw it scrapped. 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. In the 1999 edition, one of the most famous moments of the tournament was American defender
Brandi Chastain's victory celebration after scored the Cup-winning
penalty kick against
China. She took off her jersey and waved it over her head (as men frequently do) as she celebrated. The 1999 final in the
Rose Bowl in
Pasadena, California, had an attendance of 90,185. The 1999 and
2003 Women's World Cups were both held in the United States; in 2003 China was supposed to host it, but the tournament was moved because of
SARS. As compensation, China retained their automatic qualification to the 2003 tournament as host nation, and was automatically chosen to host the
2007 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Germany hosted the
2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, as decided by vote in October 2007. In March 2011, FIFA awarded
Canada the right to host the
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. The 2015 competition saw the field expand from 16 to 24 teams. During the
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, both
Formiga of
Brazil and
Homare Sawa of
Japan appeared in their record sixth World Cup, a feat that had never been achieved before by either female or male players.
Christie Pearce became the oldest player to ever play in a Women's World Cup match, at the age of 40 years. In March 2015, FIFA awarded
France the right to host the
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup over
South Korea. In the 2019 edition, which was held in France, the United States won the tournament for the fourth time. In 2023, Australia and New Zealand hosted the FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time as joint hosts, and the number of participants was expanded from 24 to 32. It was also the first tournament to be held in the Southern Hemisphere. With
Australia and
New Zealand respectively being members of the
Asian Football Confederation and
Oceania Football Confederation, this was the first FIFA senior competition to be hosted across two confederations. Spain won their first-ever title, defeating England 1-0 in the final. This made Spain the 2nd nation to win both the Men's and Women's World Cup, after Germany. In 2027, Brazil will host the FIFA Women's World Cup, bringing the tournament to
South America and
Latin America for the first time. In 2031, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico, and the United States will host the second joint hosted tournament, and the number of participants will be expanded from 32 to 48. In 2035, the home nations of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) will host. ==Trophy==