40 Fun Facts About Women's Soccer

Jamaica's Reggae Girlz are bankrolled by Cedella, the daughter of which reggae legend?

Bob Marley's daughter Cedella funds and champions the team, which became the first Caribbean nation to reach a Women's World Cup in 2019 and the knockout rounds in 2023.

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

Camp Nou set the record as Barcelona beat Wolfsburg 5–1, a month after 91,553 had watched the same ground host a quarter-final against Real Madrid.

For roughly how long did the FA's 1921 ban on women playing at its members' grounds remain in force?

Nearly fifty years: the FA declared football 'quite unsuitable for females' in December 1921 and did not relent until around 1970, stalling a game that had drawn huge crowds.

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

Kylian Mbappé and Sam Kerr fronted FIFA 23 together; Kerr is also the only woman to have finished top scorer in three leagues on three different continents.

Which Washington Spirit forward, the NWSL's youngest-ever draftee, is the daughter of a famous basketball player?

Trinity Rodman is Dennis Rodman's daughter; drafted at 18, she scored three goals at the Paris 2024 Olympics as the Americans won gold.

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

The NFL tight end and the two-time world champion are one of sport's rarer couples; Julie was twice named U.S. Soccer 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 ownership group with Kara Nortman, Julie Uhrman and Alexis Ohanian; a 2024 sale to Bob Iger and Willow Bay valued the club at $250 million.

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 is the first coach to win the Euros with two different countries, and the first in men's or women's football to reach five consecutive major-tournament finals.

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. munitions factory raised the team in 1917, and that Goodison crowd stood as a women's club record for over 98 years.

Which Dick, Kerr Ladies winger, credited with 967 goals, was the first woman in the English Football Hall of Fame?

Lily Parr was the only woman among the Hall's 2002 inaugural inductees, and in 2019 became the first female footballer honoured with a statue in Britain.

Who, writing under a pseudonym, co-founded the British Ladies' Football Club whose 1895 debut drew 10,000 to Crouch End?

Nettie Honeyball's real identity is uncertain; the club's chairman and sponsor was Lady Florence Dixie, youngest daughter of the Marquess of Queensberry.

Brazil legally barred women and girls from playing football from 1941; in which year was that ban finally lifted?

Only in 1979 did Brazil, by then under military rule, repeal the prohibition, which is why its first great female players emerged so late.

Unlike the men's Olympic football tournament, restricted to under-23 squads, what age rule governs the women's event?

No age limit applies, so the women's Olympic tournament is a full senior competition second only to the World Cup, whereas the men may add just three overage players.

Brazil's Formiga played at every Olympic women's football tournament from the first to Tokyo 2020 — how many in all?

Seven Olympics, the last at age 43, plus a record seven World Cups; her nickname means 'ant' because a spectator said she looked like one darting between bigger boys.

Barbra Banda, the first woman to score back-to-back hat-tricks at an Olympics, captains which African nation?

Zambia's captain did it at Tokyo 2020, the country's Olympic debut, having earlier boxed professionally because no amateur would fight her.

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

Pia Sundhage appeared on a Swedish postage stamp as a player in 1988, two decades before her first Olympic gold as a coach.

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, matching a teammate's back-to-back wins before going one better.

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

Alexia Putellas had in 2021 become the first woman to take the UEFA, FIFA and Ballon d'Or awards in a single year, then kept all three while injured.

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 Serie A men's club offered Birgit Prinz a contract in 2003, an offer the German striker turned down?

Perugia's approach came right after Prinz had won the 2003 World Cup as its best player and top scorer; she declined, fearing a publicity stunt.

Which Chinese forward shared FIFA's Female Player of the Century award with Michelle Akers in 2000?

Sun Wen had just been named best player and top scorer of the 1999 World Cup, and was the first overall pick when America's first pro league held its draft.

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 penalty in that final and win the 2023 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, then joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2024.

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

Sonia Bompastor completed the double with Lyon in 2022, then in her first Chelsea season went through a 22-game WSL campaign unbeaten.

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 was 31 when appointed, the youngest, first female and first Black coach of any England team, and she later led Team GB at London 2012.

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

Vivianne Miedema reached 100 international goals against Wales at Euro 2025, and was also the first player to score 50 goals in the WSL.

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, daughter of Ethiopian immigrants, was the first woman to command a fee above a million dollars, having captained Stanford to a national title.

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

Linda Caicedo, who joined Real Madrid in 2023, was the first player to appear at Under-17, Under-20 and senior World Cups within a single year.

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 settled by Ada Hegerberg's 16-minute hat-trick, and no club has won more French league titles.

Which German club won the first UEFA Women's Cup in 2002, beating Umeå in the competition's only single-leg final?

1. FFC Frankfurt won 2–0 at their own Waldstadion before 12,000, then a European club record; the competition became the Champions League in 2009.

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

Arsenal's 2025 win was a 1–0 over Barcelona in Lisbon, Stina Blackstenius scoring, 18 years after a season that brought a continental sextuple.

How many clubs contested the inaugural Women's Super League season in 2011, which was played through the summer months?

Eight clubs played that first March-to-October season; the WSL only moved to a winter calendar in 2017–18 and turned fully professional in 2018.

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 south-coast club won the first Women's FA Cup final in 1971, and most of the first eleven?

Southampton beat Stewarton Thistle 4–1 at Crystal Palace in that first final and took all but three of the first eleven editions.

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

The WUSA folded in 2003 after three seasons, and WPS lasted from 2009 to 2011; by 2026 the NWSL had grown to 16 clubs.

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

Kansas City Current's 11,500-seat CPKC Stadium was privately financed and sits beside the Missouri River levee, a first for any women's pro team.

Which nation's Super Falcons won a tenth Women's Africa Cup of Nations in 2025, beating hosts Morocco 3–2 in the final?

Nigeria's tenth crown extended its own record; the 2022 title had gone to South Africa for the first time, also at Morocco's expense.

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

Argentina beat Brazil 2–0 in Mar del Plata to claim that title, and Brazil has won every other edition since the tournament began in 1991.