World Cup - Women Live Scores, Fixtures and Results

World Cup - Women is the FIFA Women’s World Cup, FIFA’s global women’s national-team cup competition and the sport’s premier international tournament. Held every four years, it brings together the strongest eligible national sides from across the world to determine the women’s world champion.

Identity and purpose

Organised by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the FIFA Women’s World Cup sits at the summit of the women’s international game. It is a competition for national teams rather than clubs, giving players the opportunity to represent their countries on football’s biggest global stage. Its central sporting purpose is to crown a world champion, while its wider role is to expand participation, raise the profile of women’s football and provide a platform for the game’s leading players and teams.

The tournament is a cup competition with no permanent league table across the cycle: each edition begins with qualification and ends with one champion. Its global character is reflected in participation from FIFA member associations across the six continental confederations: the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Confederation of African Football (CAF), Concacaf, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL), Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and UEFA.

Origins and development

The first FIFA Women’s World Cup began on 30 November 1991, establishing a major international championship for women’s national teams. The tournament was created in the spirit of the men’s World Cup but has developed its own sporting history, traditions and worldwide following. Since its introduction, it has become an important measure of national-team strength and a defining event in the professional growth of women’s football.

FIFA governs the competition and sets its regulations, while matches are played under the Laws of the Game maintained by the International Football Association Board (IFAB). The tournament’s format, qualification places and operational regulations are determined for individual editions, so details such as the number of finalists and group arrangements should always be read in the context of the relevant World Cup.

Qualification and access

Teams do not enter the finals automatically simply because they are national sides. Eligibility is restricted to national teams representing FIFA-affiliated member associations, and players must satisfy the applicable nationality requirements for the country they represent. Most teams earn their place through qualification organised within their confederation.

A host nation normally receives automatic qualification under the arrangements for its edition. The remaining places are allocated through continental qualifying competitions involving AFC, CAF, Concacaf, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA members. Inter-confederation play-offs can provide an additional route to the finals, allowing teams from different regions to compete for places that remain available after the continental pathways.

Finals format and progression

The finals combine group football with knockout pressure. In the 2023 edition, the 32 qualified teams were drawn into eight groups of four. Each team played the other teams in its group once, producing a league-style standings table before the tournament moved into the single-elimination phase. The leading teams progressed to the Round of 16, followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals and Final.

Draws and seeding are designed to produce balanced groups. Qualified teams are placed into pots using FIFA Women’s World Ranking considerations, with the official draw then assigning them to groups subject to confederation restrictions. Because FIFA can revise the finals structure for later editions, the 2023 arrangement should not be treated as a permanent format for every future tournament.

Match rules and standings

Group-stage results are scored using the standard international football system: a win earns three points, a draw earns one point and a defeat earns none. When teams finish level on points, the competition regulations apply tie-break procedures based on measures such as goal difference, goals scored, head-to-head records and fair-play records. If the regulations still require a further separation, drawing of lots may be used as a final resort.

Knockout matches must produce a winner. If the score is level after 90 minutes, the teams play 30 minutes of extra time in two 15-minute periods. A penalty shoot-out decides the tie if the scores remain level after extra time. This rule applies through the Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and Final.

Calendar and sporting stakes

The World Cup follows a four-year cycle. Qualification is generally played during the years leading up to the finals, while the tournament itself usually takes place over about one month, commonly during June and July in the Northern Hemisphere. The schedule progresses from a sequence of group matches to increasingly consequential knockout fixtures, creating a clear path from qualification to the Final.

Winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup makes a national team world champion and earns the right to lift the FIFA Women’s World Cup Trophy. Progress deep into the competition also carries substantial sporting prestige, can strengthen a nation’s international standing and may support wider investment in player development, facilities and the women’s game. World Cup - Women therefore represents both a decisive test of elite national-team performance and a historical record of women’s football’s continuing global development.