World Cup FIFA Women's World Cup

[TXT]

The FIFA Women's World Cup is recognized as the most important International competition in women's football and is played amongst women's national football teams of the member states of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. Contested every four years, the first Women's World Cup tournament, named the Women's World Championship, was held in 1991, sixty-one years after the men's first FIFA World Cup tournament in 1930. The current format has sixteen teams competing every four years for the winner's trophy.

History

The tournament was originally the brainchild of the then FIFA president João Havelange. The inaugural tournament was hosted in China in 1991, with twelve teams sent to represent their countries. The 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup was held in Sweden with twelve teams. Over 660,000 spectators attended the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup in the United States. The United States and Germany have won the championship twice, and Norway once. Germany is the two-time defending champion.

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 shot against China. She took off her jersey and waved it over her head (as men frequently do), showing her muscular torso and sports bra as she celebrated. The 1999 final in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California had an attendance of 90,185, a world record for a women's sporting event.

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 its automatic qualification to the 2003 tournament as host nation and was automatically chosen to host the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup. Germany will host 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 edition will see the field expand from 16 to 24 teams.

At the 2007 World Cup in China, U.S. captain Kristine Lilly competed in her fifth (and ultimately final) World Cup, making her the only woman and one of three players in history to appear in five World Cups.

Format

The participants qualify through the regional football confederations of Oceania (OFC), Europe (UEFA), North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), South America (CONMEBOL), Asia (AFC) and Africa (CAF).

The competition takes place over the course of three weeks. In the group stage, 16 teams seeded into four groups (A,B,C, and D) compete against each other in a round-robin tournament. After Germany trounced Argentina 11–0 in the opening game of the 2007 World Cup, FIFA president Sepp Blatter conceded that the one-sided match was "not good for the game" and was something that FIFA would consider in deciding whether or not to expand the group phase to 24 teams. On 3 December 2009, FIFA decided to expand the women's World Cup to 24 teams for 2015.

In the knockout phase, the top two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals, a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. The winner of Group A plays the runner-up of Group B, The winner of Group B plays the runner-up of Group A, etc.

The winners of the four quarterfinal games move on to the semifinal matches, which determine the contestants for the championship game. The losing semifinalists compete to determine third place.

Tournaments

All-time performance

Official Website: FIFA Women's World Cup

 

[TXT]

---reserved---

 

[TXT]

tahun ni tim mana lak menang WC wanita
Germany ngan USA mmg kuasa bsr bola sepak wanita dunia skrg

 

[kapak]

xde senarai team yg main tahun ni?

 

[LORDZ666]

letak la 1-2 sedutan.....

 

[TXT]

Group

 

[TXT]

Matches

 

[TXT]

Greatest Moments in FIFA World Cup History 1904-2004 Women's World Cup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmlUx6Z1APY&feature=related

 

[TXT]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WOy5iOlpLk

 

[TXT]

Cup fever builds in Germany

“Roll on 2011,” USA forward Abby Wambach told FIFA.com as the curtain came down on the FIFA Women’s World Cup China 2007™. Anticipation for the 2011 edition started growing as soon as the dust had settled in Shanghai, and the excitement has not stopped building ever since.

Now, after four long years of waiting, Germany is finally ready to get the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011™ underway. The tournament’s nine host stadiums are looking resplendent, and in just a few days’ time 16 teams will be stepping out on to pristine pitches across the country to kick off their campaigns.

Berlin’s Olympiastadium plays host to the competition’s opening ceremony, and there could not be a more fitting venue for the occasion. The stunning arena has a long and distinguished history, having originally been built for the 1936 Summer Olympic Games. The stadium also hosted FIFA World Cups in 1974 and 2006, but until now it has never staged a senior women’s international match. Canada take on hosts and defending champions Germany for the historic encounter on Sunday 26 June.

Birgit Prinz is the competition’s all-time leading goalscorer with 14 strikes, and she is set to play a starring role once again as Germany look to secure their third world title. Their main rivals for the crown are 1991 and 1999 champions USA, who are the only team to have reached the semi-final stage in every edition of the tournament to date. Meanwhile, 2007 runners-up and perennial bridesmaids Brazil will be hoping their five-time FIFA World Player of the Year Marta can fire them to glory for the first time.

New faces join past masters

Japan, Nigeria, Norway and Sweden join Germany, USA and Brazil in that elite group of teams that have qualified for all six FIFA Women’s World Cups to date. There have only been three different names on the trophy so far: Germany and USA have two titles apiece, while Norway triumphed back in 1995 to briefly break the pair’s dominance. Sweden 1995 is the only other edition to have been held in Europe, with the other four finals shared between China PR (1991 and 2007) and USA (1999 and 2003).

Host cities Augsburg, Berlin, Bochum, Dresden, Leverkusen, Frankfurt, Monchengladbach, Sinsheim and Wolfsburg are all set to relive the excitement that gripped Germany in 2006. Thousands of fans have already received warm welcomes across the country and will no doubt be enjoying the buzz of anticipation on the streets as they wait for the action to kick off.

Colombia and Equatorial Guinea will make their FIFA Women’s World Cup bows in Germany, and both sides arrive at the tournament high on confidence and ambition. Colombia surprised everyone by finishing fourth at the U-20 competition last year, and the senior side returns to the scene of the triumph hoping for similar success.

“We’re going for gold,” said Colombian starlet Yoreli Rincon. “It’d be great to come up against Brazil in the title decider. A win would help to strengthen women’s football in Colombia, and on a personal note it would give me a push towards taking Marta’s [World Player of the Year] crown.” Colombia will need to be at their best if they are to make their dreams a reality, however, as they share a highly competitive Group C with USA, Sweden and Korea DPR .

Equatorial Guinea may not arrive with quite the same fanfare, but their FIFA Women’s World Cup ambitions are every bit as stellar. The draw was not particularly kind to them, however, and the African qualifying section runners-up will need to be on top of their game in Germany. 2007 runners-up Brazil, Asian champions Australia and former winners Norway provide their opposition in Group D.

The task would appear more straightforward for England and Japan, who are the clear favourites to progress from Group B. Opponents New Zealand and Mexico should not be taken lightly, however, and the pair will be out to prove that they are not in Germany simply to make up the numbers. Mexico in particular go into the tournament on a high following their qualifying victory over arch-rivals USA. The win sealed their place in Germany and forced 2008 Olympic champions USA to sweat it out in a final play-off against Italy.

The outcome of Group A is harder to call. The section features France, CONCACAF champions Canada, African champions Nigeria and current holders Germany, and all four teams have the ability to go a long way in the tournament. Nigeria and Germany have selected several of the bright young talents who lit up the U-20 final just a year ago. Kim Kulig, Alexandra Popp and Bianca Schmidt all have another chance to shine on home soil, while Nigeria include no fewer than eight faces from the U-20 squad that finished second last year.

While Germany 2011 marks the start of bright careers for many of the young players on display, several international veterans could be making their final FIFA Women’s World Cup outings. Among the players hoping for one last hurrah are Japan midfielder Homare Sawa, USA defender Christie Rampone and Nigeria captain Perpetua Nkwocha.

In just a few days’ time, the speculation will be over and the competition will be in full swing. 22 days of competition and 32 matches lie ahead, with 336 players all desperate to get their hands on the 45cm-high, 1.8kg winner’s trophy. 51 match officials will oversee the encounters, with more than 2,000 journalists reporting on the action and around 670,000 fans packing the stands in support.

With 75 per cent of the available matchday tickets sold so far, there is still time for fans to enjoy the action from the stands. For those unable to make it to Germany, FIFA.com will be here throughout the tournament to provide all the latest news and action from the showpiece event of women’s football.