First Women's World Cup

In November 1991, China hosted the first FIFA Women's World Championship, the first world tournament for women's national football teams organized by FIFA. The United States won it, beating Norway in the final in Guangzhou. The event mattered because it gave women's football a global stage under the sport's governing body and set the foundation for what became one of the world's major sporting competitions.

Women had been playing organized football for decades before 1991. In England, women's teams drew large crowds in the years around the First World War, but the English Football Association banned women's matches from its member clubs' grounds in 1921, a restriction that lasted until 1971. Other countries also discouraged or sidelined the women's game. From the 1970s, however, participation grew across Europe, North America and Asia, and unofficial international tournaments, some of them held in Italy, Mexico and elsewhere, showed there was an audience and a talent pool. Pressure grew on FIFA to take the women's game seriously, and the federation staged a trial in China in 1988 before committing to a full tournament.

The 1991 competition featured twelve teams, drawn from several confederations, with matches played in and around Guangdong province. Games were shorter than in the men's tournament, lasting 80 minutes rather than 90, and FIFA did not initially use the words "World Cup" in the official name, calling it a "Women's World Championship" instead. The American team, young and fast, was led in attack by Michelle Akers and April Heinrichs, and Akers finished as the top scorer. The United States defeated Norway 2-1 in the final, with Akers scoring both goals. Crowds in China were large for many matches, which helped counter doubts about public interest.

The tournament's immediate commercial impact was modest, and media coverage in many countries was limited. Even so, FIFA proceeded with a second edition in Sweden in 1995, and the event was renamed the Women's World Cup. Women's football was added to the Olympic program in 1996. Later tournaments, especially the 1999 edition in the United States, drew much bigger audiences and made stars of players such as Mia Hamm.

The 1991 tournament is now seen as the starting point of the modern women's international game. It helped open the way for professional leagues, expanded tournaments and greater investment, though debates over pay, resources and equal treatment with the men's game continue. The competition has grown from twelve teams to thirty-two in recent editions.