USA Clubs Ranked - 2013-23 (Women)

I had the impression that the USA was the epicentre of women's soccer. Europe has some strong leagues as well of course. Still, that was the perception and the fact that the USA is the most successful country in the World Cup competition reinforced that notion.

However, the USA had a poor WC in 2023, second in its group and out in the first playoff round. I took it as a blip but looking into the club scene in the US has now got me wondering. 

The table below rewards top clubs making the top four in the elite league (National Women's Soccer league) from its inception in 2013 and NWSL Challenge Cup since 2020. For the history of women's soccer in the US, the time period I've covered is just scratching the surface.

The problem is that before that, clubs came and went like a morning mist. That's the conclusion I reached. The lack of stability made a club comparison a long list with little meaning. At least since 2013 there has been more settled.

The most successful club is the North Carolina Courage and they started in 2017. Prior to that they were the West New York Flash that relocated to NC. I have kept them separate below but if combined, totally dominant. 

FC Kansas City dropped out in 2018. The Houston Dash arrived in 2014, the Orlando Pride 2015 with both the Kansas City Currant and San Diego Wave entering in 2022. So even now, with new teams joining and a few dropping out, it has the feel of a league that is establishing itself. If anyone can add to my conclusion or state why it's not as I'm seeing it, leave a comment below. Registering not a requirement to do so. 

As for regions, the US always has to deal with the tyranny of distance. The east of the country is where most clubs are based with over half the points going there. 

FIFA Women's World Cup Tournaments : 1991-2023

The first tournament was held in 1991 in China. Nine have now been held and under the @/WC column, the number of times a country has participated is shown. To rank how nations have performed, I created the chart you see below. So how does it work?

Points are allocated according to where teams finished each World Cup and those points are added together in the 'Tot' column. 

The 'Avg' figure is arrived at by dividing the 'Tot' number with the @/WC one. So a country that has done well when they did attend will have a higher average figure than those performing poorly when they attended, regardless of how often they did so. 

The lowest part of the chart reveals how each region did. The three rows show - total points accrued, the number of nations each region sent and finally the average points. As the number of participating countries increases, the points do not increase at the same rate so average points reduce with additional countries being admitted. 

Taking the Americas as an example, it started with just two countries and had the highest average of 10 points each. In 2024, with nine countries it had the lowest average per nation of 2.4. I wonder if the organisers will react to that or view it as a long term project where the experience gained will rectify that next time. 

Summary: The USA is clearly the most successful country, ahead of Germany. That despite neither doing that well in the 2023 event. England, the Netherlands and Spain have missed some tournaments but both have been successful when attending. New Zealand is notable for the opposite reason. 

FIFA Men's World Cup Tournaments : 1954-2022

The World Cup of football wasn't universally accepted when it was introduced back in 1930. Some countries didn't see the need for it as it was an Olympic sport so that was good enough to define a world champion. The problem with that was only amateur players were allowed to compete.

When the World Cup was introduced, when played on one continent, countries on another continent wouldn't attend. This became a tit for tat affair which diluted the genuineness of the title World Cup. It was only by 1954 that it was accepted by all and at that point it became a bona fida world tournament. That's where this analysis kicks off. 

Countries that have been basically the same throughout are purple, those disbanded pink and for new entrants light blue. The Av column on the extreme right highlights the average points for each attendance at a cup. 

Below are all the results and how points are allocated. All participants get something although success is especially rewarded. Sixteen points for a win down to one for last in a group.  

Below the country list, there is a section showing how regions have fared. Then a breakdown of points is available for any who have a nerdy stats side to them.