World Cup History

I've been sitting here struggling to come up with cohesive words to feel about this FIFA Women's World Cup. It ended last night with Spain taking home their first title, after defeating England 1-0. When the final whistle blew last night I was thrilled for the Spanish players, but I recognized the reality of the situation. Jorge Vilda had just won a World Cup.

This is the first time I have followed every second of a World Cup, paying close attention to everything happening on and off the pitch. I want to think back on this tournament positively, so let's go through some of the amazing things that happened. *

Katie McCabe (Mike O'Shea/Getty), Telma Encrnação (Abbie Parr/AP), Amanda Ilestedt (Abbie Parr/AP)

Overall:

• Australia and New Zealand hosted their countries' first World Cup

• Republic of Ireland, Haiti, Morocco, Vietnam, the Philippines, Panama, Portugal, and Zambia made their Women's World Cup debuts

  • For Zambia, Vietnam, and the Philippines this was their country's first World Cup

• The Australia-France game ended with the longest penalty shootout in World Cup history, at 20 taken penalty kicks.

  • The second longest shootout was also recorded with Sweden and the United States taking 14

By Group:

• Group A:

  • New Zealand records their first World Cup win

    • It was the first match of the tournament

  • The Philippines record their first World Cup goal and win

    • Scored by Sarina Bolden

• Group B

  • Australia finishes fourth in the tournament, their best ever World Cup finish

  • Republic of Ireland gets their first Women’s World Cup goal, an Olympico scored by Katie McCabe

    • It was the only direct corner goal of the tournament

• Group C

  • Spain wins their first Women’s World Cup

    • This is Spain’s second World Cup title

  • Spanish players won multiple tournament awards

    • Young Player of the Tournament: Salma Paralluelo

    • Golden Ball: Aitana Bonmati

    • Silver Ball: Jennifer Hermoso

  • Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa wins the 2023 Golden Boot award

  • Zambia records their first World Cup win and goal

    • Scored by Lushomo Mweemba

• Group D

  • England plays in their first Women’s World Cup Final

  • England’s Mary Earps earns Golden Glove award

• Group E

  • Portugal records their first Women’s World Cup win and goal

    • Scored by Telma Encrnação

• Group F

  • Jamaica makes it to the Round of 16 for the first time in their World Cup history

  • Jamaica also recorded their first Women’s World Cup win

  • Panama records their first Women’s World Cup goal, scored by Marta Cox

• Group G

  • South Africa makes it to the Round of 16 for the first time in their World Cup history

  • South Africa earns their first World Cup win

  • Sweden’s Amanda Ilestedt wins the Bronze Ball

• Group H

  • Colombia makes it to their first Women’s World Cup Quarter-finals

  • Colombia’s Linda Caicedo plays in her third World Cup in under a year

  • Morocco records their first, Women’s World Cup goal and win

    • Goal scored by Ibtissam Jraïdi

  • Morocco advances to their first Women’s World Cup Round of 16

  • Morocco's Nouhaila Benzina becomes the first player to wear a hijab in a World Cup

  • South Korea’s Casey Phair becomes the youngest player to play in a World Cup at 16.

There's a lot more to be said about Spain and the final, and the abuse in women's soccer, but for now I want to end of the high notes. We can be sad later.

Casey Phair (Rick Rycroft/AP), Nouhaila Benzina (Getty Images), Linda Caicedo (Getty Images)

*If it is a statistic specifically for the women's team I will specify the "Women's World Cup" and if it's a statistic for both women's and men's teams, I will simply say "World Cup." The following stats do not include any of this history that happened off the pitch.