Algarve Cup

Estádio Algarve

For the most recent tournament, see 2011 Algarve Cup.

The Algarve Cup is a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football. Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious women's football events, alongside the Women's World Cup and Women's Olympic Football. There is also an Algarve Cup competition for male under-17 football players that is held every February.

Currently, 12 teams are invited, with the top eight competing for the championship. The teams are divided into three groups of four — A, B and C. Group C was added in 2002 to provide second-tier teams with high-level match experience every year. The current holder is the USA.

The teams first play round-robin within their pool. Then the placement round proceeds as follows:

• 11th place: Bottom teams in Group C play one game.
• 9th place: The Group C runner-up plays one game against the lower-ranked of the fourth-place teams from Groups A and B.
• 7th place: The Group C winner plays one game against the higher-ranked of the fourth-place teams from Groups A and B.
• 5th place: The third-place teams from Groups A and B play one game.
• 3rd place: The second-place teams from Groups A and B play one game.
• 1st place: The first-place teams from Groups A and B play one game.

The most successful teams have been the USA with eight titles and Norway with four. Norway's titles all came in the early years of the tournament, while the USA has won all its titles in the 2000s, including seven in nine years since 2003. Sweden has won three times, China two times and Germany has won once. The USA, Norway and Germany are the only nations to have won both the FIFA World Cup and the Algarve Cup.

The Algarve Cup, as an annual event featuring most of the world's top women's football teams, has no parallel in the men's game, given that there are fewer professional women's leagues and thus fewer scheduling conflicts.

Results

Year		Final				Third Place Match
		Winner	Score	Runner-up		3rd Place	Score	4th Place
1994		Norway	1–0	United States		Sweden	1–0	Denmark
1995		Sweden	3–2 (aet)	Denmark		Norway	3–3 (aet) 4–2 (pso)	United States
1996		Norway	4–0	Sweden		China PR	2–1	Denmark
1997		Norway	1–0	China PR		Sweden	0–0 6–5 (pso)	Denmark
1998		Norway	4–1	Denmark		United States	3–1	Sweden
1999		China PR	2–1	United States		Norway	2–2 (aet) 4–1 (pso)	Denmark
2000		United States	1–0	Norway		China PR	1–0	Sweden
2001		Sweden	3–0	Denmark		China PR	5–1	Canada
2002		China PR	1–0	Norway		Sweden	2–1	Germany
2003		United States	2–0	China PR		Norway	1–0	France
2004		United States	4–1	Norway		France	3–3 4–3 (pso)	Italy
2005		United States	1–0	Germany		France	3–2	Sweden
2006		Germany	0–0 (aet) 4–3 (pso)	United States		Sweden	1–0	France
2007		United States	2–0	Denmark		Sweden	3–1	France
2008		United States	2–1	Denmark		Norway	2–0	Germany
2009		Sweden	1–1 4–3 (pso)	United States		Denmark	1–0	Germany
2010		United States	3–2	Germany		Sweden	2–0	China PR
2011		United States	4–2	Iceland		Japan	2–1	Sweden
2012

Rankings

Team	Winner	Runner up	3rd place	4th
United States	8 (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011)	4 (1994, 1999, 2006, 2009)	1 (1998)	1 (1995)
Norway	4 (1994, 1996, 1997, 1998)	3 (2000, 2002, 2004)	4 (1995, 1999, 2003, 2008)	-
Sweden	3 (1995, 2001, 2009)	1 (1996)	6 (1994, 1997, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2010)	4 (1998, 2000, 2005, 2011)
China PR	2 (1999, 2002)	2 (1997, 2003)	3 (1996, 2000, 2001)	1 (2010)
Germany	1 (2006)	2 (2005, 2010)	-	3 (2002, 2008, 2009)
Denmark	-	5 (1995, 1998, 2001, 2007, 2008)	1 (2009)	4 (1994, 1996, 1997, 1999)
Iceland	-	1 (2011)	-	-
France	-	-	2 (2004, 2005)	3 (2003, 2006, 2007)
Japan	-	-	1 (2011)	-
Canada	-	-	-	1 (2001)
Italy	-	-	-	1 (2004)

Participating nations

Team	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11
Australia	-	-	-	-	-	5th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Austria	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10th	11th	-
Canada	-	-	-	-	-	-	5th	4th	8th	7th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Chile	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11th
China PR	-	-	3rd	2nd	5th	1st	3rd	3rd	1st	2nd	6th	7th	6th	10th	9th	5th	4th	7th
Denmark	4th	2nd	4th	4th	2nd	4th	6th	2nd	6th	9th	7th	6th	9th	2nd	2nd	3rd	5th	6th
England	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9th	-	-	8th	-	-	-	-	-	-
Faroe Islands	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12th	-
Finland	6th	5th	8th	6th	8th	8th	7th	7th	7th	6th	9th	10th	7th	6th	8th	7th	8th	10th
France	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4th	3rd	3rd	4th	4th	-	-	-	-
Germany	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4th	-	-	2nd	1st	8th	4th	4th	2nd	-
Greece	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8th	11th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Republic of Ireland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11th	-	-	10th	11th	12th	-	-	-
Iceland	-	-	6th	7th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9th	7th	6th	9th	2nd
Italy	-	7th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4th	-	-	7th	6th	-	-	-
Japan	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3rd
Mexico	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9th	8th	-	-	-	-	-
Netherlands	-	6th	-	5th	6th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Northern Ireland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12th	12th	WD	-	-	-	-	-
Norway	1st	3rd	1st	1st	1st	3rd	2nd	5th	2nd	3rd	2nd	5th	5th	5th	3rd	9th	6th	5th
Poland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11th	11th	-	-
Portugal	5th	8th	7th	8th	7th	7th	8th	8th	11th	10th	8th	11th	11th	12th	10th	8th	10th	9th
Romania	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7th	12th
Russia	-	-	5th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Scotland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sweden	3rd	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	6th	4th	1st	3rd	5th	5th	4th	3rd	3rd	5th	1st	3rd	4th
United States	2nd	4th	-	-	3rd	2nd	1st	6th	5th	1st	1st	1st	2nd	1st	1st	2nd	1st	1st
Wales	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12th	12th	10th	-	-	-	-	12th	-	8th

External links

• Algarve Cup on WomensSoccerUnited.com
• RSSSF.com history page, with links to full results