[1] In 1957 in West Berlin, a European Championship was staged by the International Ladies Football Association.[2][3] Four teams, representing West Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and the eventual winners, England, played the tournament at the Poststadion,[2][3] at a time when women's football teams were officially forbidden by the German Football Association, a ban that was widely defied.[4]
UEFA displayed little enthusiasm for women's football and were particularly hostile to Italy's independent women's football federation. Sue Lopez, a member of England's squad, contended that a lack of female representation in UEFA was a contributory factor:[7]
In 1971, UEFA had set up a committee for women's football, composed exclusively of male representatives, and by the time this committee folded in 1978 they had failed to organise any international competitions.[7]
From 1984 to 1995, the tournament was initially played as a four-team event. The 1997 edition was the first that was played with eight teams, followed by the 2001 and 2005 editions. The third expansion happened between 2009 and 2013 when 12 teams participated. From 2017 onwards 16 teams compete for the championship.[10]
The first three tournaments of the UEFA competition in the 1980s had the name "European Competition for Representative Women's Teams". With UEFA's increasing acceptance of women's football, this competition was given European Championship status by UEFA around 1990.[11] Only the 1991 and 1995 editions have been used as European qualifiers for a FIFA Women's World Cup; starting in 1999, women's national teams adopted the separate World Cup qualifying competition and group system used in men's qualifiers.
In the inaugural 1984 tournament, no bronze medal was awarded. In 1987, 1989, 1991 and 1993 there was a third-place play-off to determine bronze. From 1995 onwards, both losing semi-finalists are awarded bronze. Only Norway and Germany have won the competition more than once.
Players fighting for the ball during the match between Germany and Norway in UEFA Women's Euro 2009 in Tampere, Finland.Reception of Germany women's national football team, after winning the 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, on the balcony of Frankfurt's city hall "Römer"
In this ranking 3 points are awarded for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss. As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. Teams are ranked by total points, then by goal difference, then by goals scored.
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