Despite the global prowess of the Brazilian men’s national soccer team, the women’s national team has never been able to dominate the top international competition, only accumulating a painful defeat in the 2007 final and a bronze medal in 1999, these being the best performances of the South American country in the Women’s World Cup.
Therefore, here at Sambafoot, we wanted to delve into the participations and performances of the Women’s National Team in the nine World Cups that have been played to date.
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How did Brazil fare in each Women’s World Cup they played?
Unfortunately, the history of the Brazilian women’s national team in the World Cups is full of disappointments, bad moments, and painful defeats. However, with the 2027 World Cup just around the corner, which will be played for the first time in history on South American soil, Brazil hopes to break this historic drought as the host.
China 1991
In the 1991 World Cup, the first in history, Brazil had a bitter debut, falling in the group stage, winning only one match (1-0 against Japan) and losing the other two (0-5 against the United States and 0-2 against Sweden).
Sweden 1995
In Sweden 1995, Brazil’s fortune would not change, as the green-yellow team was eliminated in the group stage, finishing last in Group A, winning only one match (0-1 against Sweden) and, again, losing two (1-2 against Japan and 1-6 against Germany).
United States 1999
In 1999, the national team would achieve what, until then, was their best result in a World Cup tournament. After finishing first in Group B with two wins (7-1 against Mexico and 2-0 against Italy) and a draw (3-3 against Germany), Brazil clashed with Nigeria in the quarterfinals.
After defeating the Nigerian team 4-3, the United States prevailed in the semifinals with a final score of 2-0, and Brazil, for the first time in their history, played the third-place match. After a 0-0 draw against Norway, the green-yellow team prevailed on penalties 5-4 and won the bronze medal.
Their tormentor, the United States, would be the champions of that World Cup.
United States 2003
The bad luck would haunt Brazil again in 2003, a tournament in which they managed to comfortably advance from the group stage with comfortable victories against South Korea (3-0), Norway (1-4), and a draw against France (1-1).
In the quarterfinals, the Swedish national team would be the executioner of the Seleção on American soil, winning 1-2.
China 2007
The 2007 World Cup in China would be an opportunity for redemption for Brazil, but they would once again fall short of the ultimate achievement. After achieving a full set of victories in the group stage (0-5 against New Zealand, 4-0 against China, and 1-0 against Denmark), Brazil fiercely advanced to the quarterfinals, where they eliminated Australia 3-2.
The United States, their tormentor in the 1999 semifinals, was no match for that Seleção, and Brazil won 0-4 with a brace from Marta. However, Germany would be the team responsible for ending the South American team’s dream, winning 2-0 in a match in which Marta missed a crucial penalty.
Germany 2011
The 2011 World Cup was a harsh return to reality for Brazil, as despite finishing the group stage undefeated with three consecutive wins (1-0 against Australia, 3-0 against Norway, and 0-3 against Equatorial Guinea), the United States would be the ones to eliminate them in the quarterfinals after a 2-2 draw and a 3-5 penalty shootout win.
Canada 2015
In Canada 2015, Brazil would once again comfortably advance from the group stage thanks to three solid victories against South Korea (2-0), Spain (1-0), and Costa Rica (0-1), but, inexplicably and in the first-ever round of 16 in the tournament’s history, Brazil would be eliminated by Australia 0-1.
France 2019
In France 2019, an irregular run of results during the group stage allowed Brazil to advance as the best third-place team, after a three-way tie of six points in Group C.
Upon advancing to the round of 16, the host nation would be the one to end Brazil’s World Cup dream, winning 2-1 against Brazil in extra time.
Australia and New Zealand 2023
To conclude, the latest performance shown by the women’s national team in a World Cup was also the worst on record since 1999, being the last World Cup in which the Seleção was eliminated in the group stage.
Despite thrashing Panama 4-0 in their debut, the defeat against France 2-1 and the draw against Jamaica 0-0 were key in the evolution of Group F, leaving them third with only four points accumulated.
Remembering Zagallo
Sambafoot Series launched a new documentary about the football legend Zagallo. Known as ‘Velho Lobo‘ and as superstitious as it gets, Zagallo helped shape what Brazilian football is nowadays — as a player and as a coach.
Binge the first five episodes available on Sambafoot’s Youtube channel. Stay tuned for upcoming releases as we keep telling this legend’s life story.
