Algarve Cup


The Algarve Cup was an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation. Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it was one of the most prestigious and longest-running women's international football events and had been nicknamed the "Mini FIFA Women's World Cup".
The most successful teams were the United States, with ten titles, Norway and Sweden with five, and Germany with four. The United States, Norway, Germany, and Spain are the only nations to have won both the FIFA Women's World Cup and the Algarve Cup.
The Algarve Cup, as an annual event featuring most of the world's top women's football teams, had no parallel in the men's game, given that there are fewer professional women's leagues and thus fewer scheduling conflicts. It was played in late February or early March, at the same time as the Arnold Clark Cup, the Cup of Nations, the Cyprus Women's Cup, the Istria Cup, the Pinatar Cup, the SheBelieves Cup, the Tournoi de France, the Turkish Women's Cup and the Women's Revelations Cup.
It has not been held since the introduction of the UEFA Women's Nations League in 2023.

Format

From 2002 to 2014, 12 teams were invited, with the top eight competing for the championship. The teams were divided into three groups of four — A, B and C. Group C was added in 2002 to provide second-tier teams with high-level match experience every year. The teams first played round-robin within their pool. Then the placement round proceeded as follows:
  • 11th place: The two bottom teams in Group C played one game.
  • 9th place: The Group C runner-up played one game against the lower-ranked of the fourth-place teams from Groups A and B.
  • 7th place: The Group C winner played one game against the higher-ranked of the fourth-place teams from Groups A and B.
  • 5th place: The third-place teams from Groups A and B played one game.
  • 3rd place: The second-place teams from Groups A and B played one game.
  • 1st place: The first-place teams from Groups A and B played one game.
In 2015, Group C teams became eligible for the final, which is now played between the two best group winners. If teams are tied on points, finishing positions will be determined by the following tie-breaking criteria in the following order:
  1. number of points obtained in the matches among the teams in question
  2. goal difference in all the group matches
  3. number of goals scored in all the group matches
  4. fair-play ranking in all the group matches
  5. FIFA ranking
The placement round is now as follows:
  • 11th place match: 3rd best 4th placed team vs. 2nd best 4th placed team
  • 9th place match: best 4th placed team vs. 3rd best 3rd placed team
  • 7th place match: 2nd best 3rd placed team vs. best 3rd placed team
  • 5th place match: 3rd best 2nd placed team vs. 2nd best 2nd placed team
  • 3rd place match: 3rd best group winner vs. best 2nd placed team
  • Final: Best group winner vs. 2nd best group winner

    Results

;Notes

Teams reaching the top four

Medals

Statistics

Teams

RankTeamPartMWDLGFGAGDPoints
1207956111217362+111179
227103522328185108+78179
327103531436175117+58173
428107421451146151−5140
52391351442106109−3119
628106261663101208−10797
71244292139435+5989
815592111277593−1874
983117595135+1656
10728161114536+949
1152213273432+241
1262413293435−141
131871895445165−12033
1472895143147−1632
1562293102634−830
165194871828−1020
173115241815+317
183124531514+117
1952052131641−2517
2028512157+816
2127511104+616
223125162017+316
2328422911−214
24284132112+913
2528431135+813
2627403910−112
273113261220−811
2827313109+110
291430164+29
3028215714−77
312713348−46
321311145−14
331411259−44
3428107419−153
351402225−32
3614004119−180

  • Source:

    Individuals