Top 10 Best Women’s National Soccer Teams, Women’s soccer has grown in leaps and bounds over the years. Pay rise, increasing attendance, and more media interest have been at the forefront of development in the female sector of the round-leather game.
All eyes will be on women’s football this year has the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is scheduled to take place from the 20th of July to the 20th of August 2023.
It will be hosted by both Australia and New Zealand and will be the first-ever Women’s World Cup to be hosted by more than one country.
At the tournament, many of the world’s best female footballers will be aiming to lead their countries to lift the coveted trophy.
1. USA
The United States women’s national soccer team (USWNT) is the most successful in international women’s soccer.
The American female national team is also the most dominant and successful country in women’s soccer history.
It has won 4 FIFA Women’s World Cup titles, 4 Olympic gold medals, and 9 CONCACAF Gold Cups.
The team won a medal in every World Cup and Olympic tournament in women’s soccer from 1991 to 2015 before eventually getting knocked out in the quarterfinal of the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The USWNT was mostly ranked No. 2 in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings from 2003 to 2008 but was ranked No. 1 continuously from March 2008 to November 2014 — the longest consecutive top ranking of any team.
Since FIFA rankings were established in 2003, USA has been ranked No. 1 in the rankings for a total of 13 years; and has never been ranked lower than second.
Some of the greatest women’s soccer players of all time have emerged from the USWNT such as Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, Michelle Akers, Carli Lloyd, Kristine Lilly, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan.
2. Germany
The German women’s national team is one of the most successful in women’s soccer. They are two-time world champions, having won the 2003 and 2007 tournaments.
They won Olympic gold in 2016.
The top-tier women’s soccer league in Germany known as the Frauen-Bundesliga, is currently one of the top women’s soccer leagues in the world.
Furthermore, the team has won 8 of the total 13 UEFA Women’s Euros to date. It amazingly won 6 consecutive titles between 1995 and 2013!
Germany — along with the Netherlands — are one of the only two countries that have won both the women’s and men’s UEFA Euros.
Women’s football was long met with skepticism in Germany, and official matches were banned by the DFB until 1970. However, the women’s national team has grown in popularity since winning the World Cup in 2003.
Apart from USA, Germany is the only other nation to have been ranked No. 1 in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings. It has topped FIFA’s ranking of women’s national soccer teams for a total of 4-and-a-half years.
3. Sweden
The Swedish national team has been traditionally recognized as one of the world’s best women’s soccer teams.
It won the UEFA Women’s Euros in 1984 and was runners-up in 1987,1995, and 2001.
Sweden were runners-up at the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup, their best finish at the World Cup.
They finished third at the 1991, 2011, and 2019 World Cups.
So far, the team has participated in 6 Olympic Games, 8 World Cups, and 10 European Women’s Championships.
4. England
The England women’s national football team, known as the Lionesses, have qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 7 times — finishing third in 2015.
As hosts, England won the UEFA Women’s Euros for the first ever in 2022.
As a result, they will compete in the inaugural 2023 Women’s Finalissima against Brazil, winners of the 2022 Copa América Femenina.
5. France
Boasting of the best female football club in the world, Olympique Lyon, France, have become one of the most consistent teams in Europe this century.
They qualified for their first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2003 and reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Women’s Euros twice.
France finished in fourth place at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, its best overall finish at the competition so far.
The following year, the team won the 2012 Cyprus Cup and ended in fourth place at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament.
6. Canada
Canada reached international prominence at the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup, losing in the bronze medal match to the USWNT.
They qualified for their first Olympic women’s soccer tournament in 2008, reaching the quarterfinals.
The country’s most significant achievement in international women’s soccer has been winning the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Furthermore, Canada is two-time CONCACAF Women’s Championship winners, and two-time Olympic bronze medallists.
Team captain, Christine Sinclair, is the world’s all-time leader for international goals scored for men or women (with 190 goals).
She is also one of the best women’s soccer players of all time.
7. Spain
While Spain’s female national youth teams have one of the best records in the world, the senior team has struggled until in recent years.
Unlike most of the teams on this list, Spain became a force to reckon with in women’s soccer just a few years ago.
The team have so far only qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup twice.
It has played at the UEFA Women’s Euros 3 times, reaching the semifinals in 1997.
Spain broke into the top 10 of the FIFA international rankings in early 2020.
Moreso, Spain has some of the best female soccer players in the world today.
In fact, their players collected the 2020 UEFA awards for best goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, forward, and overall best player – the first time players from a single nation won all the categories.
Midfielder, Alexia Putellas (of Barcelona) won the Ballon d’Or Féminin, The Best FIFA Women’s Player, and the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year in 2021 and 2022.
8. Netherlands
In 1971, the Netherlands played the first women’s international football match recognized by FIFA against France.
Interestingly, the country was one of a number of European countries where women’s football was banned for a long time and was met with skepticism.
Netherlands have reached the final of the UEFA Women’s Euros three times — becoming champions in 2017 as hosts.
They have qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup twice, reaching the final in 2019.
Additionally, they qualified for the 2020 Olympics, where they lost in the quarterfinals.
The Dutch female national team has grown in popularity after their surprise victory on home soil at the 2017 Euros.
9. Brazil
Brazil women’s national soccer team has participated in 8 editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, finishing in third place in 1999 and as runners-up in 2007.
Brazil is the most successful women’s national team in South America, having won 8 Copa América Femenina titles. It won the first 4 editions of the championship.
Brazil have won the silver medal twice at the Olympic Games (in 2004 and 2008) after finishing fourth in the previous two editions.
10. Japan
Japan is the most successful women’s national soccer team in Asia.
They have won 2 AFC Women’s Asian Cups, 2 Asian Games, and 4 EAFF Football Championships.
Japan won their first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup title in 2011 by defeating the United States in the final. Thus, becoming the first Asian team to do so and only the 4th women’s world champions.
The team won silver medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, making it the only Asian team to have three combined medals from international championships.
Japan’s highest ranking in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings is 3rd, achieved in December 2011 when they became the world champion.
