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Ranking the best Women’s World Cup finals

By Stanford Crissey

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Ranking the six Women’s World Cup finals from worst to best

It seems like it’s been around forever, or should have been at least, but it may surprise some to know that the upcoming Women’s World Cup will only be the seventh in history. The men’s World Cup has been around since 1930, but the women only got their own World Cup as recently as 1991.

Despite having so few, we’ve had several women’s final matches that were absolute classics. But which has been the best one? Let’s rank each final in anticipation of the 2015 Women’s World Cup, which begins June 6.

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6. Germany 2-0 Brazil, 2007

One year after the German men’s team was ousted in the semifinals, the nation earned its World Cup glory when the women’s team shut out Brazil 2-0. It was the second consecutive World Cup win for the German team, making them the first to ever accomplish that feat in the Women’s World Cup.

Incredibly, the German team did not allow a single goal for the entire run of the tournament, an unprecedented feat in either the men’s or women’s tournaments. Their World Cup run began with an 11-0 destruction of Argentina, and they never let up. Unfortunately, this led to a less exciting final than most, as a German victory seemed pretty much inevitable at this point.

5. Norway 2-0 Germany, 1995

The second-ever Women’s World Cup looked very different than it does in its current state; the tournament featured just 12 teams and three groups.

In their run to the finals, Norway defeated the defending winners the United States, shut out each team they faced in the group stage, and then proceeded to shut out the German team in the final. All told, Norway surrendered just one goal in the entire tournament.

Like the 2007 final, this one had something of a feeling of inevitability to it, with Norway being so clearly the best team.

4. USA 2-1 Norway, 1991

The first ever World Cup was actually never referred to by that name–it was officially known as the 1st FIFA World Championship for Women’s Football for the M&M’s Cup. Now there’s a mouthful, and I’m not just talking about the M&Ms.

Nonetheless, what would later be known as the first Women’s World Cup final took place in front of 63,000 fans in China in November of 1991, and ended with a 2-1 victory by the USA over Norway. Norway was able to reach the final despite an early 4-0 upset at the hands of China. The U.S., meanwhile, went undefeated throughout the tournament’s run, including a 5-2 shellacking of Germany in the semifinal and shutouts of Japan and Brazil.

The U.S. were led by a forward attack dubbed the “triple-edged sword,” which included captain April Heinrichs, Carin Jennings, and Michelle Akers-Stahl. Jennings was named player of the tournament while Akers-Stahl’s ten goals won the Golden Shoe, including the team’s two goals in the final.

3. Germany 2-1 Sweden, 2003

Now we’re starting to get into the close final matches. Germany defeated Sweden in this match in extra time, back when the golden goal rule was still in place in the Women’s World Cup, meaning that the first goal scored in extra time wins. It’s an exciting extra time format, but not the one used universally in soccer today.

Germany was led by forward Brigid Prinz, the winner of both the Golden Shoe trophy for most goals and the Golden Ball for best overall player. After defeating the U.S. and Russia by a combined score of 10-1 in the knockout stages, Germany had some trouble with Sweden in a hotly contested final, but came away as the champions.

2. Japan 2-2 (3-1) USA, 2011

The second World Cup final to end in penalty kicks was a bitter disappointment for the U.S. team, who held a 1-0 lead with 80 minutes gone, and a 2-1 lead with 117 minutes gone, only to have victory snatched away from them both times. Then came the penalty kicks, when the U.S. simply ran out of gas, missing their first three kicks and allowing Japan to win the match easily. Heartbreak aside, it was a great game of soccer… as long as you weren’t a USA fan.

1. USA 0-0 (5-4) China, 1999

Now here’s a match more to the liking of U.S. soccer fans. The final of the 1999 World Cup was the highest attended women’s sporting event in history, with more than 90,000 fans packing the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. It was a nail-biter of a match, going scoreless after 120 minutes and leading to an exciting penalty shootout. Fans of both teams were on the edges of their seats as the shootout came down to the last shot, which Brandi Chastain nailed to give the U.S. the win.

The match is still probably most famous for the now iconic photograph of Brandi Chastain taking off her shirt, and it was a huge step forward both for the growth of soccer in the U.S., and for women’s sports as well. It will be hard to top this one, but we can hope that the 2015 final will manage to do so.

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