The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in October 2007. Japan won the final against the United States on a penalty shoot-out following a 2–2 draw after extra time and became the first Asian team to win a senior FIFA World Cup.
The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the first time and by a North American country for the third time. Matches were played in six cities across Canada in five time zones. The tournament began on 6 June 2015, and finished with the final on 5 July 2015 with a United States victory over Japan.
Japan, represented by Japanese Olympic Committee, competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. Despite being London's third Olympic Games, Japan marked their London debut at this games. The nation also celebrated its centennial anniversary in the Olympics, having participated at every games since 1912 except for two editions; it was not invited to the 1948 Summer Olympics in London for its role in World War II, and was also part of the US-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Japan sent a total of 295 athletes to the Games, 138 men and 157 women, to compete in 24 sports.
The men's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held in London and five other cities in Great Britain from 26 July to 11 August. Associations affiliated with FIFA were invited to enter their men's U-23 teams in regional qualifying competitions, from which 15 teams, plus the hosts Great Britain, reached the final tournament. Men's teams were allowed to augment their squads with three players over the age of 23. It was the first men's Olympic football tournament to feature a team representing Great Britain since the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. The competition also marked Uruguay's men's football team's first Olympic appearance since 1928, when it won its second consecutive gold medal.
The women's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held in London and five other cities in the United Kingdom from 25 July to 9 August. Associations affiliated with FIFA were invited to enter their women's teams in regional qualifying competitions, from which 11 teams, plus the hosts Great Britain reached the final tournament. There are no age restrictions for the players participating in the tournament. It is the first major FIFA affiliated women's tournament to be staged within the United Kingdom, and marked the first time a team representing Great Britain took part in the women's tournament.
The 2012 United States women's national soccer team season was dominated by the 2012 Women's Olympic Football Tournament. The start of the year saw the team compete in the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament and then in July they participated in the main event itself. The team won both tournaments. In between they also played in Algarve Cup, the Kirin Challenge Cup and the 2012 Sweden Invitational. They also won the latter tournament.
Group A of the men's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place from 26 July to 1 August 2012 in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, Coventry's City of Coventry Stadium, London's Wembley Stadium and Manchester's Old Trafford. The group contained host nation Great Britain, Senegal, United Arab Emirates and Uruguay.
Group B of the men's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place from 26 July to 1 August 2012 in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, Coventry's Ricoh Arena, London's Wembley Stadium and Newcastle's St James' Park. The group contained Gabon, Mexico, South Korea and Switzerland.
Group C of the men's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place from 26 July to 1 August 2012 in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, Coventry's City of Coventry Stadium, Glasgow's Hampden Park, Manchester's Old Trafford and Newcastle's St James' Park. The group contained Belarus, Brazil, Egypt and New Zealand.
Group D of the men's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place from 26 July to 1 August 2012 in Coventry's City of Coventry Stadium, Glasgow's Hampden Park, Manchester's Old Trafford and Newcastle's St James' Park. The group contained Honduras, Japan, Morocco and Spain.
The knockout stage of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup began on 20 June and ended with the final match on 5 July 2015. A total of 16 teams competed in this knockout stage.
England have participated six times at the FIFA Women's World Cup: in 1995, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2023. They have reached the quarter-finals in each of their participation and the semi-finals three times, reaching the final in 2023.
The United States women's national soccer team is the most successful women's national team in the history of the Women's World Cup, having won four titles, earning second-place once and third-place finishes three times. The United States is one of five countries including Germany, Japan, Norway, and Spain to win a FIFA Women's World Cup.. The United States was also the only team that played the maximum number of matches possible in every tournament until they got eliminated in the round of 16 in 2023.
The Germany women's national football team has represented Germany at the FIFA Women's World Cup on nine occasions in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023. They have won the title twice and were runners-up once. They also reached the fourth place in 1991 and in 2015.
The Sweden women's national football team has represented Sweden at the FIFA Women's World Cup on nine occasions in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023. There were runners up once and four times bronze medalists: in 1991, in 2011, in 2019 and in 2023.
The Canada women's national soccer team has represented Canada at eight of the nine staging's of the FIFA Women's World Cup. The inaugural tournament in 1991 is currently the only edition for which they failed to qualify.
The France women's national football team has represented France at the FIFA Women's World Cup at five stagings of the tournament, in 2003, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023, they hosted in 2019.