This summer Canada will be host the 7th s World Cup, in what will be the biggest tournament in the competition’s history.
The competition was first introduced in 1991 thanks to the then FIFA president, Dr Joao Havelange. In its inaugural format, the tournament featured only 12 teams, but 2015 will see a record 24 teams compete for the famous trophy.
China hosted the very first tournament with USA becoming the first winners back in 1991.
Like the men’s competition, the World Cup is played every four years and in 1995 Norway became world champions, winning in neighbouring Sweden.
1999 was viewed as a turning point for the Women’s World Cup, when the tournament, held in the USA, increased to 16 teams for the first time.
All 32 games were broadcast live on national television and an estimated 40 million viewers in the US watched their side lift the trophy for the second time at the Rose Bowl in California with a world record 90,000 fans being present at the stadium.
The World Cup returned to the US in 2003 when the proposed hosts, China, suffered an outbreak of the viral disease, SARS. Germany won the final, beating Sweden 2-1 after extra-time.
By 2007 China were ready to host the finals and over a million fans bought tickets during the three-week tournament. Germany triumphed for the 2nd consecutive time, beating Brazil in the final in Shanghai.
The 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany began in impressive style with 73,000 fans cramming into the historic national stadium in Berlin and concluded with a surprise as Japan beat two-time champions USA.
2015 will be a record breaking year for the Women’s World Cup. The tournament has expanded to include 24 teams and as a result, 8 teams will make their World Cup debuts in Canada.
Ecuador, Netherlands, Ivory Coast, Costa Rica, Cameroon, Spain, Switzerland and Thailand will all feature in the group stages with the tournament also using goal-line technology for the first time.
The 2015 Women’s World Cup is also set to break broadcasting records. FIFA director of TV, Niclas Ericson said: “FIFA expects hundreds of millions of fans around the world to tune in to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.
“This supports FIFA’s commitment to develop and promote women’s football and it reflects the huge momentum and interest in women’s football around the world today.”
The BBC has also announced plans for groundbreaking coverage of the tournament. “Our coverage of women’s football goes from strength to strength and there continues to be a strong appetite for it,” said Barbara Slater, the BBC’s director of sport.
“We look forward to bringing our audiences the excitement and drama of another major women’s international football tournament.”
