Key figures: Homare Sawa (Japan captain, Golden Ball and Golden Boot), Norio Sasaki (Japan manager), Pia Sundhage (United States manager), Aya Miyama, Saki Kumagai, Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, Hope Solo
Summary
The 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the sixth edition of the tournament, was hosted by Germany from June 26 to July 17, 2011, and won by Japan. In the final at the Waldstadion (Commerzbank-Arena) in Frankfurt, before 48,817 spectators, Japan and the United States drew 2–2 after extra time, and Japan won the penalty shoot-out 3–1. It was Japan’s first Women’s World Cup title and made the team — nicknamed “Nadeshiko Japan” — the first Asian side, and the first from outside Europe or South America, to win a senior FIFA World Cup, men’s or women’s. The victory carried extraordinary emotional weight in a country still recovering from the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011.
The Final
The United States, coached by Pia Sundhage, twice led the final and twice were pegged back. Alex Morgan put the Americans ahead in the 69th minute, but Aya Miyama equalized in the 81st after defensive hesitation. In extra time Abby Wambach headed the United States back in front in the 104th minute, only for captain Homare Sawa to flick in a near-post equalizer from a corner in the 117th minute — her fifth goal of the tournament. In the shoot-out, Japan’s goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori and a series of missed American attempts by Shannon Boxx, Carli Lloyd, and Tobin Heath left Saki Kumagai to convert the decisive kick for a 3–1 win. The match was refereed by Germany’s Bibiana Steinhaus.
Road to the Title
Japan, managed by Norio Sasaki, advanced from the group stage before eliminating hosts and two-time champions Germany 1–0 after extra time in the quarterfinals and defeating Sweden 3–1 in the semifinals. The United States reached the final by way of a celebrated quarterfinal against Brazil, in which Wambach headed a 122nd-minute equalizer from Megan Rapinoe’s cross before the Americans won on penalties, and a 3–1 semifinal victory over France. Sawa finished as the tournament’s leading scorer with five goals and was named the best player, winning both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball.
Significance
Japan’s win broke the long dominance of the United States, Germany, and Norway in women’s international football and was widely read as a source of national encouragement in the aftermath of the Tōhoku disaster four months earlier. The result raised the global profile of the women’s game and of Japanese football, and Sawa was subsequently named the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year. The tournament drew strong attendances and television audiences in Germany and abroad, reinforcing the commercial and sporting growth of women’s football.