Portal:Women's association football

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File:20131031 AT14 Heike Manhart 9222.jpg
Players during the qualifying round of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, October 31, 2013.

Women's association football (women's soccer) is the most prominent team sport played by women around the globe. It is played at the professional level in numerous countries throughout the world and 176 national teams participate internationally.

The history of women's football has seen major competitions being launched at both the national and international levels. Women's football has faced many struggles throughout its history. Although its first golden age occurred in the United Kingdom in the early 1920s, when one match achieved over 50,000 spectators, the Football Association initiated a ban in 1921 that disallowed women's football games from the grounds used by its member clubs. The ban stayed in effect until July 1971. The same year, UEFA recommended that the women's game should be taken under the control of the national associations in each country.

At the beginning of the 21st century, women's football, like men's football, has become professionalised and is growing in both popularity and participation. From the first known professional team in 1984, to the hundreds of thousands of tickets sold for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, support of women's professional football (soccer) has increased around the globe. However, as in other sports, women have struggled for pay and opportunities equal to male football players. Major league and international women's football enjoys far less television and media coverage than the men's equivalent. In spite of this, the popularity and participation in women's football continues to grow.

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Qualifying countries

The 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup was the inaugural FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It took place in Guangdong, China from 16 November to 30 November 1991. FIFA, football's international governing body selected China as host nation as Guangdong had hosted a prototype world championship three years earlier, the 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament. Matches were played in the state capital, Guangzhou, as well as in Foshan, Jiangmen and Zhongshan. The competition was sponsored by Mars, Incorporated. With FIFA still reluctant to bestow their "World Cup" brand, the tournament was officially known as the 1st FIFA World Championship for Women's Football for the M&M's Cup.

It was won by the United States, whose captain April Heinrichs formed a forward line dubbed the "triple–edged sword" with Carin Jennings and Michelle Akers-Stahl. Jennings was named player of the tournament while Akers-Stahl's ten goals won the Golden Shoe. The United States beat Norway 2–1 in the final in front of a crowd of 65,000 people at Guangzhou's Tianhe Stadium. Total attendance was 510,000, an average per match of 19,615. In the opening match at the same stadium, Norway had been defeated 4–0 by hosts China. Goalkeeper Zhong Honglian, of China, posted the first official "clean sheet" in the tournament.

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Katie Sarah Chapman (born 15 June 1982) is an English footballer who plays for English club Arsenal Ladies in the FA WSL and is a former member of the England women's national team. She primarily plays as a central midfielder, although she has also been deployed in central defence while playing for England. Chapman is known for her strength, fierce tackling and heading ability. A mother of three, Chapman is described as "a physical player who handles a brunt of the dirty work in the middle of the pitch. She also can produce on the offensive end in a big game." Her playing ability, profile and influence have drawn comparisons to former England captain and fellow Londoner David Beckham.

Chapman is a former England U–18 captain. She made her senior international debut aged 17 in May 2000 in a 2001 UEFA Women's Championship qualification match against Switzerland. The following month, she made her first start against Norway. In March 2002 she netted her first senior international goal in a 4–1 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification win in the Netherlands. Chapman has represented England at four major international tournaments; UEFA Euro 2001, UEFA Euro 2005, 2007 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2009. A two–time winner of the FA International Player of the Year in 2002 and 2010, Chapman took a break from the national team in March 2011 with a total of 82 caps and eight goals. She remains available for England selection.

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. The Frauen-Bundesliga (English: Women Federal League) is the main league competition for women's football (soccer) in Germany. In 1990 the German Football Association (DFB) created the German Women's Bundesliga, based on the model of the men's Bundesliga. It was first played with north and south divisions, but in 1997 the groups were merged to form a uniform league. The league currently consists of twelve teams and the seasons usually last from late summer to the end of spring with a break in the winter.

In the UEFA Women's Champions League, the Frauen-Bundesliga is the most successful league with a total of seven titles from four clubs, with 1. FFC Frankfurt winning the most titles of any club.

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Qatar women's national football team, 2012
Members of the Qatar women's national football team line up prior to a friendly match against Kuwait, 2012.

Template:/box-header {{Wikipedia:WikiProject Football/Women's association football/Did you know}}

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Matildas before a game against Italy in 2009

The Australia women's national association football team represents Australia in international women's association football. The team is governed by association football in Australia, Football Federation Australia (FFA), which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) since leaving the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in 2006. The team's official nickname is the Matildas (from the song Waltzing Matilda).

Australia is a three-time OFC champion, one-time AFC champion and two-time AFF champion. The team has represented Australia at the FIFA Women's World Cup on five occasions and twice at the Olympics Games.

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