UEFA Women's Championship

UEFA Women's Championship
Organising body	UEFA
Founded	1982; 42 years ago
Region	Europe
Number of teams	16 (finals); 52 (qualifiers)
Qualifier for	Women's Finalissima
Current champions	England (1st title)
Most successful team(s)	Germany (8 titles)
Website	Official website
	UEFA Women's Euro 2025

The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years and one year after the men’s UEFA European Championship first held in 1984, is the main competition in women's association football between national teams of the UEFA confederation. The competition is the women's equivalent of the UEFA European Championship. The reigning champions are England, who won their home tournament in 2022. The most successful nation in the history of the tournament is Germany, with eight titles.

History

^[1] In 1957 in West Berlin, a European Championship was staged by the International Ladies Football Association.^[2]^[3] Four teams, representing West Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and the eventual winners, England, played the tournament at the Poststadion,^[2]^[3] at a time when women's football teams were officially forbidden by the German Football Association, a ban that was widely defied.^[4]

The FICF, which eventually merged into the Italian Football Federation, organised a European tournament in Italy in 1969 for women's national teams, a tournament won by the home team, Italy, who beat Denmark 3–1 in the final.^[5] The two nations were also the finalists of the 1970 Women's World Cup in Italy.

Italy hosted another European women's tournament a decade later, the 1979 European Competition for Women's Football – won by Denmark.^[6]

UEFA displayed little enthusiasm for women's football and were particularly hostile to Italy's independent women's football federation. Sue Lopez, a member of England's squad, contended that a lack of female representation in UEFA was a contributory factor:^[7]

In 1971, UEFA had set up a committee for women's football, composed exclusively of male representatives, and by the time this committee folded in 1978 they had failed to organise any international competitions.^[7]

At a conference on 19 February 1980 UEFA resolved to launch its own competition for women's national teams.^[8] The meeting minutes had registered the 1979 competition as a "cause for concern".^[9] The first UEFA-run international tournament began only in 1982, when the 1984 European Competition for Women's Football qualification was launched. The 1984 Finals were won by Sweden. Norway won the 1987 Finals. Since then, the UEFA Women's Championship has been dominated by Germany, which has won eight out of ten events. Norway won in 1993 and the Netherlands in 2017. Germany's 2013 win had been their sixth in a row. In 2022, England won UEFA Women's Euro 2022, becoming the country's first senior association football team of either gender to win a major tournament since the men's team won the 1966 FIFA World Cup.

From 1984 to 1995, the tournament was initially played as a four-team event. The 1997 edition was the first that was played with eight teams, followed by the 2001 and 2005 editions. The third expansion happened between 2009 and 2013 when 12 teams participated. From 2017 onwards 16 teams compete for the championship.^[10]

The first three tournaments of the UEFA competition in the 1980s had the name "European Competition for Representative Women's Teams". With UEFA's increasing acceptance of women's football, this competition was given European Championship status by UEFA around 1990.^[11] Only the 1991 and 1995 editions have been used as European qualifiers for a FIFA Women's World Cup; starting in 1999, women's national teams adopted the separate World Cup qualifying competition and group system used in men's qualifiers.

Results

Editions	Years	Host nation	Winners	Scores	Runners-up	Third place	Score	Fourth place	Number of teams
Editions	Years	Host nation	Finals			Third place playoff or losing semi-finalists			Number of teams
1	1984	No official host	Sweden	1–1 (agg.) (4–3 p)	England	Denmark and Italy			4
2	1987	Norway	Norway	2–1	Sweden	Italy	2–1	England	4
3	1989	West Germany	West Germany	4–1	Norway	Sweden	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Italy	4
4	1991	Denmark	Germany	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Norway	Denmark	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Italy	4
5	1993	Italy	Norway	1–0	Italy	Denmark	3–1	Germany	4
6	1995	No official host	Germany	3–2	Sweden	England and Norway			4
7	1997	Norway Sweden	Germany	2–0	Italy	Spain and Sweden			8
8	2001	Germany	Germany	1–0 (g.g.)	Sweden	Denmark and Norway			8
9	2005	England	Germany	3–1	Norway	Finland and Sweden			8
10	2009	Finland	Germany	6–2	England	Netherlands and Norway			12
11	2013	Sweden	Germany	1–0	Norway	Denmark and Sweden			12
12	2017	Netherlands	Netherlands	4–2	Denmark	Austria and England			16
13	2022	England	England	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Germany	France and Sweden			16
14	2025	Switzerland							16
15	2029	TBA							16

Summary

Team	Winners	Runners-up	Losing semi-finalists
Germany¹	8 (1989, 1991, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013)	1 (2022)	1 (1993)
Norway	2 (1987*, 1993)	4 (1989, 1991, 2005, 2013)	3 (1995, 2001, 2009)
Sweden	1 (1984)	3 (1987, 1995, 2001)	5 (1989, 1997, 2005, 2013, 2022)
England	1 (2022*)	2 (1984, 2009)	3 (1987, 1995, 2017)
Netherlands	1 (2017*)	—	1 (2009)
Italy	—	2 (1993*, 1997)	4 (1984, 1987, 1989, 1991)
Denmark	—	1 (2017)	5 (1984, 1991*, 1993, 2001, 2013)
Austria	—	—	1 (2017)
Finland	—	—	1 (2005)
France	—	—	1 (2022)
Spain	—	—	1 (1997)

* hosts

¹ named West Germany until 1990

Medal table

In the inaugural 1984 tournament, no bronze medal was awarded. In 1987, 1989, 1991 and 1993 there was a third-place play-off to determine bronze. From 1995 onwards, both losing semi-finalists are awarded bronze. Only Norway and Germany have won the competition more than once.

Debut of teams

Players fighting for the ball during the match between Germany and Norway in UEFA Women's Euro 2009 in Tampere, Finland.

Reception of Germany women's national football team, after winning the 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, on the balcony of Frankfurt's city hall "Römer"

Year	Debuting teams			Successor teams
Year	Teams	No.	Cum.	Successor teams
1984	Denmark, England, Italy, Sweden	4	4
1987	Norway	1	5
1989	West Germany	1	6
1991	—	0	6	Germany
1993		0	6
1995		0	6
1997	France, Russia, Spain	3	9
2001	—	0	9
2005	Finland	1	10
2009	Iceland, Netherlands, Ukraine	3	13
2013	—	0	13
2017	Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Scotland, Switzerland	5	18
2022	Northern Ireland	1	19
2025	TBD	≥1^[a]	≥20^[a]
2029	TBD

Overall team records

In this ranking 3 points are awarded for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss. As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. Teams are ranked by total points, then by goal difference, then by goals scored.

As of UEFA Women's Euro 2022, 31 July 2022

Rank	Team	Part	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Germany^[b]	11	46	36	6	4	107	27	+80	114
2	Sweden	11	42	22	6	14	72	47	+25	72
3	Norway	12	39	16	7	16	51	58	−7	55
4	England	9	34	17	3	14	62	53	+9	54
5	France	7	26	11	8	7	39	34	+5	41
6	Denmark	10	33	10	8	15	33	46	−13	38
7	Netherlands	4	18	10	3	5	27	15	+12	33
8	Italy	12	35	8	7	20	38	63	−25	31
9	Spain	4	16	5	3	8	16	19	−3	18
10	Austria	2	9	4	3	2	8	4	+4	15
11	Finland	4	14	3	3	8	12	27	−15	12
12	Belgium	2	7	2	1	4	6	7	−1	7
13	Iceland	4	13	1	4	8	7	22	−15	7
14	Russia	5	15	1	3	11	10	31	−21	6
15	Switzerland	2	6	1	2	3	7	11	−4	5
16	Portugal	2	6	1	1	4	7	15	−8	4
17	Ukraine	1	3	1	0	2	2	4	−2	3
18	Scotland	1	3	1	0	2	2	8	−6	3
19	Northern Ireland	1	3	0	0	3	1	11	−10	0

Team results by tournament

Legend

1st – Champions
2nd – Runners-up
3rd – Third place (1987–1993)
4th – Fourth place (1987–1993)
SF – Semi-finalists (1984, and since 1995)
QF – Quarter-finalists (since 2009)
GS – Group stage
Q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
• – Did not qualify
× – Did not enter / Withdrew / Banned
– Hosts

For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

Team	1984	1987	1989	1991	1993	1995	1997	2001	2005	2009	2013	2017	2022	2025	2029 TBA	Total
Team	(4)						(8)			(12)		(16)				Total
Austria	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	•	•	SF	QF			2
Belgium	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	QF			2
Denmark	SF	•	•	3rd	3rd	•	GS	SF	GS	GS	SF	2nd	GS	Q		11
England	2nd	4th	•	•	•	SF	•	GS	GS	2nd	GS	SF	1st	Q		10
Finland	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	SF	QF	GS	•	GS			4
France	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	GS	GS	QF	QF	QF	SF	Q		8
Germany^[b]	•	•	1st	1st	4th	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	QF	2nd	Q		12
Iceland	•	×	×	×	•	•	•	•	•	GS	QF	GS	GS	Q		5
Italy	SF	3rd	4th	4th	2nd	•	2nd	GS	GS	QF	QF	GS	GS	Q		13
Netherlands	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	SF	GS	1st	QF	Q		5
Northern Ireland	•	•	×	•	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	GS			1
Norway	•	1st	2nd	2nd	1st	SF	GS	SF	2nd	SF	2nd	GS	GS			12
Portugal	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	GS			2
Russia	Part of Soviet Union				•	•	GS	GS	•	GS	GS	GS	×	×	×	5
Scotland	•	•	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•			1
Spain	×	•	•	•	•	•	SF	•	•	•	QF	QF	QF	Q		5
Sweden	1st	2nd	3rd	•	•	2nd	SF	2nd	SF	QF	SF	QF	SF			11
Switzerland	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	GS	Q		3
Ukraine	Part of Soviet Union				×	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•			1

Notes:

The Soviet Union team was created only in 1990 and did not participate in continental competitions.
The East Germany team was created only in 1990 and did not participate in continental competitions.
Most of the countries of the "Eastern Bloc" ("Socialist camp") did not field their women teams.

Hosts

Results of host nations
Year	Host nation	Finish
1984	No fixed host	n/a
1987	Norway	Champions
1989	West Germany	Champions
1991	Denmark	Third place
1993	Italy	Runners-up
1995	No fixed host	n/a
1997	Norway	Group stage
1997	Sweden	Semi-final
2001	Germany	Champions
2005	England	Group stage
2009	Finland	Quarter-final
2013	Sweden	Semi-final
2017	Netherlands	Champions
2022	England	Champions
2025	Switzerland	To be determined

Results of defending finalists

Year	Defending champions	Finish	Defending runners-up	Finish
1987	Sweden	Runners-up	England	Fourth place
1989	Norway	Runners-up	Sweden	Third place
1991	Germany	Champions	Norway	Runners-up
1993	Germany	Fourth place	Norway	Champions
1995	Norway	Semi-final	Italy	Did not qualify
1997	Germany	Champions	Sweden	Semi-final
2001	Germany	Champions	Italy	Group stage
2005	Germany	Champions	Sweden	Semi-final
2009	Germany	Champions	Norway	Semi-final
2013	Germany	Champions	England	Group stage
2017	Germany	Quarter-final	Norway	Group stage
2022	Netherlands	Quarter-final	Denmark	Group stage
2025	England	To be determined	Germany	To be determined

Tournament statistics

All-time top scorers

Rank	Name	Euro													Total
Rank	Name	1984	1987	1989	1991	1993	1995	1997	2001	2005	2009	2013	2017	2022	Total
1	Inka Grings									4	6				10
1	Birgit Prinz						2	2	1	3	2				10
3	Carolina Morace	2	1	0	0	1		4							8
	Heidi Mohr			1	4	1	2								8
	Lotta Schelin									0	1	5	2		8
6	Hanna Ljungberg							1	2	3					6
	Beth Mead													6	6
	Alexandra Popp													6	6
9	Melania Gabbiadini									2	1	2	0		5
	Solveig Gulbrandsen								0	3	0	2			5
	Maren Meinert					1	1	1	2						5
	Patrizia Panico							1	2	0	2	0			5
	Pia Sundhage	4	0	1			0								5
	Jodie Taylor												5		5
	Lena Videkull	0	1	1			3								5
	Bettina Wiegmann				0	0	2	1	2						5

Top scorers by tournament

Year	Player	Matches played	Goals
1984	Pia Sundhage	4	4
1987	Trude Stendal	2	3
1989	Sissel Grude Ursula Lohn	2	2
1991	Heidi Mohr	2	4
1993	Susan Mackensie	2	2
1995	Lena Videkull	3	3
1997	Carolina Morace Marianne Pettersen Angélique Roujas	5	4
2001	Claudia Müller Sandra Smisek	5	3
2005	Inka Grings	5	4
2009	Inka Grings	6	6
2013	Lotta Schelin	6	5
2017	Jodie Taylor	6	5
2022	Beth Mead Alexandra Popp	6	6

UEFA.com Golden Player by tournament

Year	Player
1984	Pia Sundhage
1987	Heidi Støre
1989	Doris Fitschen
1991	Silvia Neid
1993	Hege Riise
1995	Birgit Prinz
1997	Carolina Morace
2001	Hanna Ljungberg
2005	Anne Mäkinen
2009	Inka Grings
2013	Nadine Angerer¹
2017	Lieke Martens¹
2022	Beth Mead¹

¹Official player of the tournament since 2013

Highest attendances

87,192 – England v Germany, Wembley, London (2022 final)
68,871 – England v Austria, Old Trafford, Manchester (2022 group stage)
41,301 – Germany v Norway, Friends Arena, Solna (2013 final)
30,785 - England v Northern Ireland, St Mary's Stadium, Southampton (2022 group stage)
29,092 – England v Finland, City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester (2005 group stage)
28,994 – England v Spain, Falmer Stadium, Brighton and Hove (2022 quarter-final)
28,847 – England v Norway, Falmer Stadium, Brighton and Hove (2022 group stage)
28,624 – England v Sweden, Bramall Lane, Sheffield (2022 semi-final)
28,182 – Netherlands v Denmark, De Grolsch Veste, Enschede (2017 final)
27,445 – Germany v France, Stadium MK, Milton Keynes (2022 semi-final)

Notes

^ ^a ^b The draw for the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying play-offs ensures that one of Republic of Ireland or Wales will participate for the first time in Women's Euro 2025.
^ ^a ^b Includes participations as West Germany before 1991.

References

^ Skillen, Fiona; Byrne, Helena; Carrier, John; James, Gary (27 Jan 2022). "A comparative analysis of the 1921 English Football Association ban on women's football in Britain and Ireland". Sport in History. 42 (1): 49–75. doi:10.1080/17460263.2021.2025415. S2CID 246409158.
^ ^a ^b "Damenfußball in der Verbotszeit [Ladies' football in the banned era]". BPB. 4 Sep 2007. Archived from the original on 18 Feb 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Women's european football championship scene from match germany (GFR) against England in Berlin (West-Berlin) . final result 0:4 05.Nov. 1957". Getty Images.
^ "Frauenfußball-Verbot 1955 [Women's football ban 1955]". Deutschlandfunk. 30 July 2015.
^ "Coppa Europa per Nazioni (Women) 1969". Rsssf.com. 19 March 2001. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
^ "Inofficial European Women Championship 1979". Rsssf.com. 15 October 2000. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
^ ^a ^b Lopez, Sue (1997). Women on the Ball: A Guide to Women's Football. London, England: Scarlet Press. p. 99. ISBN 1857270169.
^ "2013 Uefa Women's Competitions" (PDF). UEFA. August 2013. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
^ Williams, Jean (2007). A Beautiful Game: International Perspectives on Women's Football. Berg Publishers. p. 30. ISBN 978-1845206758.
^ "Women's EURO and U17s expanded". UEFA. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
^ Schlenker, Anika Leslie-Walker, Marisa (2020-07-08). "Four decades of UEFA Women's Championships "come home"". Football Makes History. Retrieved 2023-11-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

[Women's_Euro_2025-12] The draw for the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying play-offs ensures that one of Republic of Ireland or Wales will participate for the first time in Women's Euro 2025.

[GER-13] Includes participations as West Germany before 1991.

[TandF22-1] Skillen, Fiona; Byrne, Helena; Carrier, John; James, Gary (27 Jan 2022). "A comparative analysis of the 1921 English Football Association ban on women's football in Britain and Ireland". Sport in History. 42 (1): 49–75. doi:10.1080/17460263.2021.2025415. S2CID 246409158.

[BPB07-2] "Damenfußball in der Verbotszeit [Ladies' football in the banned era]". BPB. 4 Sep 2007. Archived from the original on 18 Feb 2022.

[Getty57-3] "Women's european football championship scene from match germany (GFR) against England in Berlin (West-Berlin) . final result 0:4 05.Nov. 1957". Getty Images.

[Dfunk15-4] "Frauenfußball-Verbot 1955 [Women's football ban 1955]". Deutschlandfunk. 30 July 2015.

[1969rsssf-5] "Coppa Europa per Nazioni (Women) 1969". Rsssf.com. 19 March 2001. Retrieved 12 September 2009.

[6] "Inofficial European Women Championship 1979". Rsssf.com. 15 October 2000. Retrieved 12 September 2009.

[Lopez-WOTB-7] Lopez, Sue (1997). Women on the Ball: A Guide to Women's Football. London, England: Scarlet Press. p. 99. ISBN 1857270169.

[8] "2013 Uefa Women's Competitions" (PDF). UEFA. August 2013. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2014.

[Williams-ABG-9] Williams, Jean (2007). A Beautiful Game: International Perspectives on Women's Football. Berg Publishers. p. 30. ISBN 978-1845206758.

[10] "Women's EURO and U17s expanded". UEFA. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.

[11] Schlenker, Anika Leslie-Walker, Marisa (2020-07-08). "Four decades of UEFA Women's Championships "come home"". Football Makes History. Retrieved 2023-11-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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