# 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 2007 [FIFA Women's World Cup](https://www.edgepedia.org/fifa-womens-world-cup) was the fifth edition of the quadrennial world championship for women's national football teams, staged in China from 10 to 30 September 2007 and won by Germany, who beat Brazil 2-0 in the final in Shanghai to become the first team to retain the title.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) • [2](https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/01c5-0e11db7b2088-27610709147c-1000--world-cup-joy-for-germany/) It was the second Women's World Cup held in China, after the inaugural 1991 tournament, and the edition in which FIFA paid prize money to the women's competition for the first time.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) • [3](https://time.com/6289539/womens-world-cup-2023-history/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Dates and host | 10–30 September 2007, China, five venues; opening match and final in Shanghai[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) |
| Teams | 16, with no first-time participants; a record 119 entries sought to qualify[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) |
| Champion | Germany, beating Brazil 2-0 in the final on 30 September; first team to win back-to-back Women's World Cups[2](https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/01c5-0e11db7b2088-27610709147c-1000--world-cup-joy-for-germany/) • [4](https://time.com/3907383/womens-world-cup-extraordinary-moments/) |
| Final goals | Birgit Prinz (52'), Simone Laudehr (86'); Nadine Angerer saved a Marta penalty[5](https://inside.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/china2007/news/world-cup-at-home-germany-brazil-2007-3070895) |
| Defensive record | Germany conceded no goal in six games; Angerer broke Walter Zenga's FIFA World Cup record of 517 minutes without conceding[2](https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/01c5-0e11db7b2088-27610709147c-1000--world-cup-joy-for-germany/) |
| Leading scorer | Marta (Brazil), 7 goals; also named best player of the tournament[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) |
| Prize money | First-ever Women's World Cup prize pool, 6.4 million euros; Germany's bonus tripled to 50,000 euros per player[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) |
| Attendance | 1,190,971 total, an average of 37,218; 111 goals at 3.47 per game[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) |
## Organization and field
China had originally been scheduled to host in 2003 but lost that edition, so the 2007 tournament arrived four years late for the Chinese organizers, their second Women's World Cup after 1991.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) Sixteen teams took part in four groups of four, with the confederational allocation unchanged from earlier editions: five European teams, four Asian, two each for the other confederations except Oceania's one.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) For the first time in the competition's history the field contained no newcomers; the participants were the established sides of the women's game, including defending champion Germany, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Brazil, China, Japan, and Nigeria, with New Zealand qualifying for only the second time since 1991.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370)
FIFA distributed prize money to the women's tournament for the first time, a pool of 6.4 million euros. The German federation more than tripled its own bonus, from 15,000 to 50,000 euros per player for winning the title.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370)
Weather disrupted the group stage. A typhoon flooded Shanghai, where water stood ankle-deep in the streets and 200,000 people were evacuated, and four group matches scheduled for the city, including Germany's 2-0 win over Japan, were moved to Hangzhou for safety reasons.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370)
## Germany's campaign
Germany reached the final without conceding a goal, and without dropping a match. Coach Silvia Neid, who had succeeded Tina Theune-Meyer on 1 September 2005, took the team through a perfect qualifying campaign in which the first goals against came only in the eighth and last match, a 3-2 win in Russia.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370)
The tournament opener set the tone. Germany, allowed to open the competition in Shanghai, beat Argentina 11-0, then a record result for the Women's World Cup; Argentina conceded two own goals in the game and left the tournament with a record 18 goals against.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) • [6](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/sep/11/newsstory.sport7) A 0-0 draw with England, who finished second in the group, followed, and Germany secured first place by beating Japan 2-0.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370)
In the knockout rounds Germany beat [North Korea](https://www.edgepedia.org/north-korea) 3-0 in the quarterfinal in Wuhan, with goals from Kerstin Garefrekes, Renate Lingor, and [Annike Krahn](https://www.edgepedia.org/annike-krahn), then defeated Norway by the same score in the Tianjin semifinal, an own goal from a Prinz cross opening the way before Kerstin Stegemann and Martina Müller scored in the second half.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) Entering the final on 19 goals scored and none conceded, the back line of Stegemann, Krahn, Ariane Hingst, and Linda Bresonik had kept 507 consecutive clean-sheet minutes.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370)
## The final
The final on 30 September at Shanghai Hongkou Stadium, a sell-out with 31,000 spectators, matched Germany's defense against a Brazil side that had scored 17 goals on the way to the final and beaten the United States 4-0 in their semifinal.[5](https://inside.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/china2007/news/world-cup-at-home-germany-brazil-2007-3070895) • [4](https://time.com/3907383/womens-world-cup-extraordinary-moments/) • [1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) Brazil, with Marta and Cristiane, dominated possession increasingly as the match went on and hit the German woodwork, but captain Birgit Prinz, set up by Sandra Smisek, scored in the 52nd minute, her 14th Women's World Cup goal and a record third final appearance.[5](https://inside.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/china2007/news/world-cup-at-home-germany-brazil-2007-3070895) • [1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370)
The decisive moment came on 64 minutes. Cristiane was brought down by Linda Bresonik in the penalty area, and Marta, the tournament's top scorer, stepped up to the spot. Nadir Angerer dived low to her right and saved, and [Simone Laudehr](https://www.edgepedia.org/simone-laudehr)'s header from a Renate Lingor corner in the 86th minute sealed the 2-0 win.[5](https://inside.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/china2007/news/world-cup-at-home-germany-brazil-2007-3070895) • [7](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jun/11/womens-world-cup-game-changing-moments-no-1-marta-in-2007) Angerer was named player of the match and goalkeeper of the tournament, and her clean sheet across the six games broke the record of 517 minutes without conceding previously held by the Italian goalkeeper [Walter Zenga](https://www.edgepedia.org/walter-zenga) at a [FIFA World Cup](https://www.edgepedia.org/fifa-world-cup).[2](https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/01c5-0e11db7b2088-27610709147c-1000--world-cup-joy-for-germany/) • [5](https://inside.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/china2007/news/world-cup-at-home-germany-brazil-2007-3070895)
Marta reflected afterwards that Brazil had been made to pay for its mistakes: "Sometimes you can be incredibly good and still not come away with the right result."[5](https://inside.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/china2007/news/world-cup-at-home-germany-brazil-2007-3070895) Prinz credited the collective: other countries, she said, had better individual players, but Germany were "simply amazing as a team."[5](https://inside.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/china2007/news/world-cup-at-home-germany-brazil-2007-3070895)
## Marta and Brazil's breakthrough
Brazil reached its first Women's World Cup final, having previously finished third in 1999, and the tournament confirmed Marta as the leading figure in the women's game. She finished as top scorer with 7 goals, was named the tournament's best player, and at the end of 2007 retained the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year award she had won in 2006.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) • [2](https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/01c5-0e11db7b2088-27610709147c-1000--world-cup-joy-for-germany/)
Her semifinal winner against the United States on 27 September, in a 4-0 win that was the heaviest defeat the US women had suffered at a World Cup, was later described by Time as one of the most memorable game-winning goals in the competition's history.[4](https://time.com/3907383/womens-world-cup-extraordinary-moments/) • [1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) Marta had grown up playing football with boys in Dois Riachos, a small town in the Brazilian state of Alagoas, and moved to Sweden at 18 because women were not encouraged to play football in Brazil, a view she said even her family shared. After the final she said, through tears, "We showed to the country what women's soccer can do, what potential it has."[8](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news/marta-is-to-die-for-as-familiar-names-add-some-gravitas-to-women-s-game-403841.html)
## Other results and records
The United States, the 2003 runner-up and pre-tournament favorite, stumbled in a difficult [Group B](https://www.edgepedia.org/group-b), drawing 2-2 with North Korea before narrow wins over Sweden and Nigeria, then lost the semifinal to Brazil 4-0. It recovered to take third place, beating Norway 4-1 in the third-place match, and finished the tournament with a record of 4-1-1; captain [Kristine Lilly](https://www.edgepedia.org/kristine-lilly) was the only US player named to the FIFA All-Star Team.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) • [9](https://d1dhn91mufybwl.cloudfront.net/downloads/pdfs/fdxnf1dwi/fdxnf1dwi_print.pdf)
Across the 32 matches the teams scored 111 goals, an average of 3.47 per game, and total attendance reached 1,190,971, an average of 37,218, narrowly missing the attendance record set in 1995.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) No player was sent off with a straight red card in the entire tournament; the only dismissals were two second-yellow (yellow-red) sendings-off.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370) In Germany, more than nine million people watched the final on television, at the time an unprecedented audience for a women's football match there.[1](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370)
## Aftermath
Germany's win made it the first nation to hold the Women's World Cup twice in a row, adding the 2007 title to the one won in the United States in 2003.[2](https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/01c5-0e11db7b2088-27610709147c-1000--world-cup-joy-for-germany/) • [10](https://d1dhn91mufybwl.cloudfront.net/downloads/pdfs/dc3wn9crzp/dc3wn9crzp.pdf?v=1754151022) The attempt at a third consecutive title, on home soil in 2011, ended in the quarterfinals, where Silvia Neid's team lost 1-0 in extra time to eventual champions Japan.[5](https://inside.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/china2007/news/world-cup-at-home-germany-brazil-2007-3070895) The 11-0 opening win over Argentina stood as the competition's record result until 2019, when the United States beat Thailand 13-0.[6](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/sep/11/newsstory.sport7)
## References
1. [WM 2007: Deutschland verteidigt den Titel, DFB](https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/wm-2007-deutschland-verteidigt-den-titel-253370)
2. [World Cup joy for Germany, UEFA.com](https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/01c5-0e11db7b2088-27610709147c-1000--world-cup-joy-for-germany/)
3. [The History of the Women's World Cup, Time](https://time.com/6289539/womens-world-cup-2023-history/)
4. [See the History of the Women's World Cup in 8 Extraordinary Moments, Time](https://time.com/3907383/womens-world-cup-extraordinary-moments/)
5. [#WorldCupAtHome: Angerer backstops Germany into the history books, Inside FIFA](https://inside.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/china2007/news/world-cup-at-home-germany-brazil-2007-3070895)
6. ['Beautiful game, beautiful goals', The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/sep/11/newsstory.sport7)
7. [Women's World Cup game-changing moments No 1: Marta in 2007, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jun/11/womens-world-cup-game-changing-moments-no-1-marta-in-2007)
8. [Marta is to die for as familiar names add some gravitas to women's game, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news/marta-is-to-die-for-as-familiar-names-add-some-gravitas-to-women-s-game-403841.html)
9. [All-Time Women's World Cup Statistics, US Soccer](https://d1dhn91mufybwl.cloudfront.net/downloads/pdfs/fdxnf1dwi/fdxnf1dwi_print.pdf)
10. [FIFA Competitions, US Soccer history PDF](https://d1dhn91mufybwl.cloudfront.net/downloads/pdfs/dc3wn9crzp/dc3wn9crzp.pdf?v=1754151022)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football competitions and records › Seasons and editions › Women's football seasons*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license