Banyana Banyana head for the big stage as they take part in the Women’s World Cup that will be played in Australia and New Zealand from July 20-August 20.
We round up the key numbers on the women’s global showpiece event.
1 – The number of times African teams have reached the Women’s World Cup quarterfinals. That was Nigeria in 1999, where they lost 4-3 to Brazil on the Golden Goal rule, a heartbreaking end to a fine tournament for the Super Falcons.
1 – The United States (1999) are the only host nation to win the Women’s World Cup, a surprisingly statistic considering some of the top nations who have staged the event before.
2 – China (1991, 2007) and the United States (1999, 2003) are the only nations to host the Women’s World Cup twice. Sweden (1995), Germany (2011), Canada (2015) and France (2019) are the only other nations to host before Australia & New Zealand this year. Unusually for a Fifa event, it means only three of the nine finals have been held in Europe.
2 – English-American coach Jill Ellis is the only two-time winner of the Women’s World Cup having led the United States to the title in 2015 and 2019. She resigned after the second of those two wins and has been replaced by Vlatko Andonovski.
4 – The United States have won the most Women’s World Cups with four, claiming the inaugural event in 1991, before further victories in 1999, 2015 and 2019. They will be going for a hattrick of consecutive victories this year. Germany (2003, 2007) are the only other nation to win it more than once. Norway (1995) and Japan (2011) are the other winners.
4 – Four nations have been to the final but never won the trophy – China (1999), Sweden (2003), Brazil (2007) and Netherlands (2019). Seven have in fact been in the top three on four occasions and never lifted the trophy, coming agonisingly close a number of times.
7 – Brazilian Formiga (1995–2019) appeared at seven Women’s World Cups, a record, over a 24-year period.
8 – The total number of Africans teams that have now qualified for the Women’s World Cup with Morocco and Zambia to debut in 2023. Nigeria have reached every single finals and will be going to their ninth, while South Africa will be at their second. Cameroon have also been to two, Ghana three, and Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea one.
8 – The United States have the most appearances in the medal positions, four golds, one silver and three bronzes. They have never failed to make the final three.
12 – The first Women’s World Cup in 1991 had only 12 teams compete compared to the 32 that will take part in 2023.
17– Brazilian forward Marta holds the record for the most Women’s World Cup goals scored with 17 since her first in 2003. At the age of 37 she is still going strong and is expected to compete with Brazil at the 2023 finals, which she could add to her tally.
30 – Former United States midfielder Kristine Lilly holds the record for the most Women’s World Cup matches with 30, played between 1991 and 2007. She is also the most capped individual of all time, both men and women, having played a staggering 354 international matches over a 23-year period.
50 – The United States have played the most games at the Women’s World Cup with 50. They have won 40 of those and lost only four. They have outscored their opponents 138-38 in that time.