Women’s football: how many matches have the top five European countries played in the past 5 years?
Sweden is the highest ranked women’s football team in Europe and the second highest ranked team in the world after the United States Women’s National Team (USWMNT).
At the last women’s world cup, which took place in 2019, the Swedes finished third. They lost to the Netherlands 1-0 in the semi-final, then beat England 2-1 in the play-off for third place.
Sweden is followed by Germany and France respectively in second and third position in Europe. The Netherlands, who finished second in the 2019 World Cup losing to the United States in the final, are in fourth place and England are currently in fifth place in the UEFA rankings.
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Here we take a look at the number of matches played by the top five European countries over the past five years and, compared to them, how many matches have the top five Asian teams played with the Indian women’s team.
Looking at 2021, India has played 12 international matches, the same matches as Germany, ranked No.3 in the world. In fact, India has played more matches than England (ranked eighth in the world) who only played 9 matches.
European teams play an average of 18 to 20 international matches in a calendar year.
How many matches has Sweden played? (2017-2021)
|
Year |
Matches |
Competitions |
|---|---|---|
|
2017 |
18 |
Friendly (7), 2019 World Cup Qualifying (3), 2017 UEFA Women’s Euro (4), Algarve Cup (4) |
|
2018 |
13 |
Friendly (4), 2019 World Cup Qualifying (5), Algarve Cup (4) |
|
2019 |
17 |
Friendly (4), UEFA Euro 2022 Women’s Qualifiers (3), 2019 World Cup (7), Algarve Cup (3) |
|
2020 |
8 |
UEFA Euro 2022 Women’s Qualifiers (5), Algarve Cup (3) |
|
2021 |
18 |
2023 World Cup Qualifying (5), Friendly (7), Tokyo Olympic Games (6) |
How many matches has Germany played? (2017-2021)
|
Year |
Matches |
Competitions |
|---|---|---|
|
2017 |
14 |
Friendly (3), 2019 World Cup Qualifying (4), UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 (4), SheBelieves Cup (3) |
|
2018 |
11 |
Friendly (4), 2019 World Cup Qualifying (4), SheBelieves Cup (3) |
|
2019 |
14 |
Friendlies (5), UEFA Euro 2022 Women’s Qualifiers (4), 2019 World Cup (5) |
|
2020 |
8 |
UEFA Euro 2022 Women’s Qualifiers (4), Friendly (1), Algarve Cup (3) |
|
2021 |
12 |
2023 World Cup Qualifying (6), Friendly (6) |
How many matches has France played? (2017-2021)
|
Year |
Matches |
Competitions |
|---|---|---|
|
2017 |
17 |
Friendlies (10), UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 (4), SheBelieves Cup (3) |
|
2018 |
ten |
Friendly (7), SheBelieves Cup (3) |
|
2019 |
16 |
UEFA Euro 2022 Women’s Qualifiers (2), Friendly (9), 2019 World Cup (5) |
|
2020 |
9 |
UEFA Euro 2022 women’s qualifiers (6), Tournoi de France (3) |
|
2021 |
14 |
2023 World Cup Qualifying (6), Friendly (5), French Tournament (3) |
How many matches have the Netherlands played? (2017-2021)
|
Year |
Matches |
Competitions |
|---|---|---|
|
2017 |
22 |
2019 World Cup Qualifying (3), Friendly (9), 2017 UEFA Women’s Euro (6), Algarve Cup (4) |
|
2018 |
14 |
2019 World Cup Qualifying (9), Algarve Cup (4), Friendly (1) |
|
2019 |
20 |
UEFA Euro 2022 Women’s Qualifiers (6), 2019 World Cup (7), Friendly (4), Algarve Cup (3) |
|
2020 |
ten |
UEFA Euro 2022 Women’s Qualifiers (4), Friendly (3), French Tournament (3) |
|
2021 |
17 |
Friendlies (8), 2023 World Cup Qualifiers (5), Tokyo Olympics (4) |
How many games have England played? (2017-2021)
|
Year |
Matches |
Competitions |
|---|---|---|
|
2017 |
18 |
Friendlies (7), SheBelieves Cup (3), 2017 UEFA Women’s Euro (5), 2019 World Cup Qualifying (3) |
|
2018 |
12 |
SheBelieves Cup (3), 2019 World Cup Qualifying (5), Friendly (4) |
|
2019 |
20 |
SheBelieves Cup (3), Friendly (10), World Cup 2019 (7) |
|
2020 |
5 |
SheBelieves Cup (3), Friendlies (2) |
|
2021 |
9 |
Friendly (3), 2023 World Cup Qualifying (6) |
How many matches has India played? (2017-2021)
|
Year |
Matches |
Competitions |
|---|---|---|
|
2017 |
seven |
2016 SAFF Championship (2), 2018 Asian Women’s Cup Qualifying (4), Friendly (1) |
|
2018 |
3 |
Tokyo Olympic Qualifiers (3) |
|
2019 |
11 |
Turkish Women’s Cup (4), SAFF 2019 Championship (4), Tokyo Olympic Qualifying (3) |
|
2020 |
DNP |
N / A |
|
2021 |
12 |
Friendly (7), Women’s Turkish Cup (2), Women’s International Football Tournament (3) |