In 1970, the Turin-based Federation of Independent European Female Football organised an unofficial women’s world cup, in which 7 teams participated and Denmark became champion.
FIFA, wary of lending the World Cup branding to what might turn out to be a failure, first organised a women’s invitational in China in 1988. Norway won this tournament. After this FIFA agreed to officially endorse a first Women’s World Cup to be played in 1991, also in China. In this inaugural edition, only 12 teams took part in the competition and the US team emerged as champions.
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The current trophy measures 47 cm, weighs 4.6 kg and is made of sterling silver, covered in 23-karat white and yellow gold. The design is a spiral, with a football at the top, in an effort to symbolise the “athleticism, dynamism and elegance of women’s football. At its base, the trophy has a cone-shaped platform where the name of each of the winning teams from Women’s World Cups past are displayed.
In 1991, only a total of 510,000 viewers came to watch the entire tour-nament. Whereas, 1,978,274 tickets were sold for Women’s World Cup 2023.
After becoming the first-ever champions, the US women’s team has won the most number of World Cup finals. Out of the eight previous editions, the United States has won 4, Germany 2, Japan, and Norway, with 1 each.
This year it was the first time that 32 nations competed. Eight new countries made their debut, including the Republic of Ireland, Haiti, Panama, Morocco, the Philippines, Portugal, Zambia, and Vietnam.
Did you know that 61 years after FIFA established the first men’s world cup, the first women’s version was organised?
HERE’S HOW 2023 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP MADE HISTORY
1. England’s Chole Kelly’s penalty against Nigeria was at a speed of 110.79 kmph, breaking the record of the fastest goal scored at a Women’s World Cup.
2. Sarina Wiegman has become the first coach to lead 2 nations to a World Cup final. Previously, she led the Netherlands women’s team to the final in 2019 and this year the England’s women team.
3. This year the teams received increased prize money. The winning team Spain took home $4.29 million.
Did you know that the prize money for the World Cup 2022 (Qatar) winning mean’s team was $42 million?
4. This is the first time the World Cup was jointly hosted by two countries. The matches were scheduled in Australia and New Zealand.
5. 164 goals were scored in this Women’s World Cup, the highest at any edition of the World Cup
6. The official match ball for the 2023 Women’s World Cup celebrates the natural landscape of host countries Australia and New Zealand. The ball has been designed by Aboriginal artist Chern’ee Sutton and Maori artist Fiona Collis.
7. The current trophy was designed in 1998 for the 1999 Women’s World Cup in the US.
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