Tournament History

England reached the Final of that inaugural competition, losing to Sweden on penalties after a 1-1 aggregate draw over two legs. In 1991 UEFA took over the running of the competition, which has continued to improve mirroring the advances in the women’s game.

Norway have won the competition (in 1993), but Germany are the most successful having been crowned European champions three times - in 1989, 1997 and 2001.

The last win came for Germany on home soil, thanks to a 1-0 golden goal victory against Sweden in Ulm before a crowd of 18,000, and UEFA allowed Germany to keep the trophy as a memento of their third victory.

UEFA stages a UEFA European Women's Championship every four years over a two-year period, as well as a UEFA qualifying competition for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which is staged every four years also over a two-year qualifying duration.

The qualifying competition for the 2005 UEFA European Women’s Championship began in September 2003, with 16 teams competing in four groups.

The winner of each group was decided by October 2004, with each of the runners-up and the two best third-placed teams going into a play-off. The play-off will see three ties, played on a home-and-away basis, to decide which three teams will advance to the Finals in England.

Past Tournaments