World Cup Powerhouses Enthusiasm for women’s soccer in the United States continued to grow after the U.S. team’s gold-medal victory at the 2012 Olympic Games, especially after the team lost to an inspired Japanese team in the 2011 World Cup. Like Olympic gold, winning the World Cup is a career-capping ambition. Frequency data from the FIFA website (through 2011) show that some countries have far more top finishes than others. For example, West Germany/Germany had 10 first- or second-place finishes and Brazil had 8. These two teams are shown here playing each other in the 2007 Women’s World Cup.

AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus