A closer look at the key numbers ahead of the Women’s World Cup

Brazil’s Marta will go into her sixth World Cup as the competition’s all-time leading scorer with 17 goals.

The United States have won the last two Women’s World Cups and four altogether (PA) (PA Archive)

The Women’s World Cup gets under way next Thursday in Australia and New Zealand.

Here, the PA news agency looks ahead to the tournament in numbers.

4 – the United States hold the record for Women’s World Cup titles, winning four of the eight previous tournaments including the last two back-to-back. Four is also the number of different nations to have been crowned champions, with Germany winning twice and Norway and Japan once each.

17 – Brazil’s Marta will go into her sixth World Cup as the competition’s all-time leading scorer with 17 goals.

10 – the record goal tally in a single edition, by American Michelle Akers in the inaugural 1991 competition. That included five in a match, against Chinese Taipei, a record matched by compatriot Alex Morgan against Thailand in 2019.

13-0 – the USA’s World Cup-record winning margin in that game against Thailand.

30 – Kristine Lilly played more World Cup finals matches than any other player, 30 for the USA between 1991 and 2007.

190 – Christine Sinclair’s career goal tally for Canada is a record for a male or female player. There are 21 squads at this World Cup whose cumulative total is less than Sinclair’s own.

16 – age of the youngest ever player at a Women’s World Cup. Nigeria’s Ifeanyi Chiejine was 16 years and 34 days old when she played against North Korea at the 1999 tournament – South Korea’s Casey Phair will break that record if she appears in either of her country’s first two matches this summer, against Colombia or Morocco.

32 – teams in this year’s competition, up from 24 in 2019 and 16 as recently as 2011.

8 – nations making their debut, as was the case when the tournament expanded from 16 to 24 teams. Haiti, Morocco, Panama, the Philippines, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, Vietnam and Zambia are the newcomers this time around.

2 – it is the first Women’s World Cup with two co-hosts, Australia and New Zealand.

15 – previous World Cup matches for New Zealand, without recording a win.