The FIFA Women's World Ranking is like a list that shows how good national women's football teams are. It's made by the group that controls football worldwide, called FIFA. In August 2023, the Sweden team is at the top of the list.
They started making these rankings in 2003,[2] and the first ones came out on 16 July that year.[3][4] FIFA tries to figure out how strong the different women's teams are based on their past games. The teams that have done really well get higher ranks. Right now, there are 185 national teams in the ranking as of January 2023.
The ranking is not just for information. It's used to decide how to group teams in big international tournaments.
When the rankings come out
The rankings are usually published four times in a year.
When the rankings come out in 2023
| Release date[5]
|
| 25 August
|
| 15 December
|
Teams in the lead
From the beginning until 25 August 2023, the top spots in the women's rankings were held only by the United States and Germany. After the 2023 World Cup, Sweden is now at the top, Germany is ranked sixth, and the USA is ranked third. Before this, the United States and Germany were in the top two places most of the time, except for six times when Germany was third. Other teams like Norway, Brazil, England, and Sweden have also been in second place during this time.
The United States stayed in the top spot for the longest time, nearly 7 years, from March 2008 to December 2014. Up until January 2022, the United States has been the leader for more than 15 years, Germany for 4.5 years, and both together for 3 months.
References
