40 Fun Facts About Women's Soccer

Which reggae legend's daughter Cedella became the Reggae Girlz' benefactor when Jamaica revived the team in 2014?

Bob Marley's daughter Cedella stepped in after Jamaica's federation had cut the women's team for lack of money; five years on, the Reggae Girlz became the first Caribbean side to reach a Women's World Cup.

Which stadium set the official women's attendance record of 91,648 at a 2022 Champions League semi-final?

Camp Nou filled twice in a month for Barcelona's women, who normally play in a 6,000-seat stadium: 91,553 watched them beat Real Madrid, then 91,648 saw a 5–1 win over Wolfsburg.

Which body banned women's teams from its clubs' grounds in 1921, a ban that stood for about fifty years?

The Football Association ruled in December 1921 that football was unsuitable for women, a year after a women's match had drawn 53,000 to Goodison Park; the ban was not repealed until 1971.

Which men's star shared the FIFA 23 global cover with Sam Kerr, the first woman ever given that billing?

Kylian Mbappé shared the cover with Sam Kerr on EA's last FIFA game: the publisher and football's governing body then parted ways, and the series carried on as EA Sports FC.

Which forward, drafted by Washington Spirit at 18 in 2021, is the daughter of a famous basketball player?

Trinity Rodman, daughter of Dennis Rodman, turned professional without playing a college match because the pandemic wiped out her freshman season, then won the league title and Rookie of the Year in her first campaign.

Julie Ertz, a World Cup winner in 2015 and 2019, is married to Zach Ertz, a star in which American sports league?

NFL tight end Zach Ertz proposed to Julie at the Stanford baseball field where the two had first met; she was later twice named U.S. Soccer's Female Player of the Year after moving into midfield.

Which Oscar-winning actress co-founded Angel City FC, the majority-female-owned club that joined the NWSL in 2022?

Natalie Portman led the founding group with Kara Nortman, Julie Uhrman and Alexis Ohanian; four years after the club was announced, a sale to Bob Iger and Willow Bay valued it at $250 million, then a record for a women's team.

Canada were docked six points at Paris 2024 after staff flew a drone over which opponent's closed training session?

New Zealand's session was spied on by a Canadian analyst acting on coaches' orders; head coach Bev Priestman was banned for a year, yet Canada still reached the quarter-finals.

Which coach won Euro 2017 with the Netherlands, then led England to the Euro 2022 and Euro 2025 titles?

Sarina Wiegman's England fell behind in all three knockout games at Euro 2025, twice needing penalties, and still kept the trophy she had first won with the Netherlands in 2017.

Dick, Kerr Ladies, who drew 53,000 to Goodison Park on Boxing Day 1920, were a works team from which Lancashire town?

Preston's Dick, Kerr & Co. had turned to making munitions, and its women workers formed the side in 1917 to play charity matches for wounded servicemen; that Goodison crowd stood as a women's club record for 98 years.

Which Dick, Kerr Ladies winger was the first woman inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame?

Lily Parr joined the team at 14 and was reputed to shoot harder than any man; one professional goalkeeper is said to have broken his arm stopping her. She was the only woman among the Hall's first inductees in 2002.

Which American tore off her shirt after scoring the winning penalty in the 1999 World Cup final?

Brandi Chastain's kick beat China in a shoot-out before more than 90,000 at the Rose Bowl, and the photo of her on her knees in a sports bra, fists clenched, became one of the defining images of women's sport.

Which six-time world player of the year was born soon after Brazil lifted its long ban on women's football?

Marta was born in 1986; for decades from 1941 Brazilian law had barred women from football, and she learned the game in the streets before joining a local boys' team.

Unlike the men's Olympic football tournament, restricted to under-23 squads, what restriction applies to the women's event?

No age limit applies, so the women's Olympic tournament is contested by full senior national teams, whereas the men's squads are under-23 with room for just three overage players.

Which player appeared at a record seven Olympic football tournaments, from Atlanta 1996 to Tokyo 2020?

Formiga, whose nickname is Portuguese for 'ant', was born in 1978 while it was still illegal for women to play football in her country, yet she played on until she was 43 and also appeared at seven World Cups.

Barbra Banda scored back-to-back hat-tricks at the Tokyo Olympics for which African nation?

Zambia were making their Olympic debut, and Banda's first hat-trick came in a 10–3 defeat by the Netherlands; three days later she scored three more in a 4–4 draw with China.

Which coach won Olympic gold with the USA in 2008 and 2012, then managed her native Sweden and later Brazil?

Pia Sundhage won the first women's European Championship as a player in 1984, scoring Sweden's goal in the first leg of the final against England before her side took the title on penalties.

Which Barcelona midfielder became the first player to win the Ballon d'Or Féminin three times, all in a row?

Aitana Bonmatí won in 2023, 2024 and 2025, the last after being diagnosed with viral meningitis days before Euro 2025 and recovering to be named the tournament's best player.

Which Barcelona captain retained the Ballon d'Or Féminin in 2022 despite tearing her ACL days before Euro 2022 began?

Alexia Putellas had swept the UEFA, FIFA and Ballon d'Or awards in 2021, the first player to take all three in one year; she was out for nearly ten months, returning in April 2023 in time to win the World Cup with Spain.

Which German goalkeeper became the first keeper of either sex named FIFA World Player of the Year, for 2013?

Nadine Angerer earned it by saving two penalties in the Euro 2013 final, six years after going a whole World Cup without conceding once.

Which German striker turned down a 2003 offer to play for men's Serie A club Perugia?

Birgit Prinz had just won the 2003 World Cup as its best player and top scorer; she said no because she feared the move was a publicity stunt that would leave her on the bench.

Which Chinese forward shared FIFA's Female Player of the Century award with Michelle Akers?

Sun Wen topped the internet poll while Michelle Akers won the vote of FIFA's magazine and committee, so the two shared the title; Sun had been best player and joint top scorer at the 1999 World Cup.

Which Euro 2022 top scorer became the first female footballer named BBC Sports Personality of the Year?

Beth Mead beat Ben Stokes to the 2022 award a month after rupturing her ACL, having scored six goals and made five more at the Euros.

Which England goalkeeper complained at the 2023 World Cup that Nike would not sell a replica of her shirt?

Mary Earps went on to save a Jennifer Hermoso penalty in the final against Spain, and that December the public voted her BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Who first won the Women's Champions League as both player and head coach, before taking over Chelsea in 2024?

Sonia Bompastor did the double as coach of her old club in 2022; her first Chelsea season brought an unbeaten league title and a domestic treble, but ended in Europe with an 8–2 aggregate semi-final defeat by Barcelona.

Who became England women's first full-time coach in 1998, and in 2003 the first woman to hold a UEFA Pro Licence?

Hope Powell, appointed at 31 as the first woman and first non-white coach of any England side, brought in central contracts in 2009 so her players could train full-time, and reached that year's Euro final.

Which Dutch striker has scored more goals for the Netherlands than any player, man or woman, including Robin van Persie?

Vivianne Miedema scored her 100th international goal against Wales at Euro 2025; at club level she once scored six and set up four more in a single 11–1 league win.

Which centre-back's January 2025 move from San Diego Wave to Chelsea set a world-record fee of about $1.1 million?

Naomi Girma, who captained Stanford to a national title, was the first woman sold for more than a million dollars, but the record lasted only six months, until Olivia Smith's £1 million move from Liverpool.

Which Colombian forward, treated for ovarian cancer at 15, scored against Germany at the 2023 World Cup aged 18?

Linda Caicedo had collapsed in training days before that match, yet scored a goal later voted the best of the tournament; it was her third World Cup in under a year, after the Under-17 and Under-20 editions.

Which club won five straight Women's Champions Leagues from 2016 to 2020 and a record 14 consecutive French titles?

Lyon's run included a 2019 final in which Ada Hegerberg scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 win over Barcelona, and no club has won more French league titles.

Which German club, since absorbed by Eintracht, won the first UEFA Women's Cup in 2002?

Frankfurt, then called 1. FFC Frankfurt, beat Sweden's Umeå 2–0 in a one-off final in their home city; Umeå took revenge two years later, winning the final 8–0 on aggregate.

Which club became the first English winner of the Women's Champions League in 2007, then lifted it again in 2025?

Arsenal began that 2024–25 campaign in the first qualifying round, the first winners ever to do so, and ended it by beating holders Barcelona 1–0 in Lisbon through a Stina Blackstenius goal.

Which club joined the Women's Super League in 2014, three years after its eight-team launch, and won it by 2016?

Manchester City were handed their top-flight place at the expense of Doncaster Rovers Belles, who learned of their demotion one match into the 2013 season; the league had begun in 2011 as a summer competition.

Which London club became Europe's first fully professional women's team in 2000, bankrolled by Mohamed Al-Fayed?

Fulham went full-time in April 2000 and won a 2002–03 treble, but Al-Fayed cut the side back to semi-professional after only three years.

Which club scrapped its women's team in 2005 after the Glazer takeover, then won a first Women's FA Cup in 2024?

Manchester United re-formed the side only in 2018 under Casey Stoney, and the 4–0 final win over Tottenham was the revived team's first major trophy.

Which English club won the first Women's FA Cup final in 1971 and seven more by 1981?

Southampton Women's FC, founded by fans of the men's club but never part of it, beat Scotland's Stewarton Thistle in that first final, played at Crystal Palace.

The NWSL, launched in 2013, was America's third women's pro league after WPS and which earlier start-up?

The WUSA was launched on the back of the 1999 World Cup but spent its five-year, $40 million budget in its first season and suspended play in September 2003, five days before that year's World Cup kicked off.

Which NWSL club opened the first stadium built exclusively for a women's professional soccer team, in March 2024?

Kansas City Current spent their first season on a converted baseball field; three years later they opened the privately financed 11,500-seat CPKC Stadium and sold out every home match of its opening season.

Which nation's Super Falcons beat hosts Morocco 3–2 in the Women's Africa Cup of Nations final in July 2025?

Nigeria trailed 2–0 at half-time and won with a goal two minutes from the end, the first time any side had come from two down in the final, to take a record tenth title.

Which nation is the only one besides Brazil to win the Copa América Femenina, doing so as hosts in 2006?

Argentina topped the final round robin in Mar del Plata, since that edition had no final, and runners-up Brazil had to win a play-off against Ghana to reach the Olympics; Brazil has won every other edition.