Algarve Cup

Algarve Cup
Founded1994
Region Portugal
Number of teams12
Current champions Sweden (5th title)
Most successful team(s) United States (10 titles)
WebsiteOfficial website
2022 Algarve Cup

The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and longest-running women's international football events and has been nicknamed the "Mini FIFA Women's World Cup".[1]

The most successful teams have been the United States, with ten titles, followed by Norway and Sweden with five, and Germany with four. The United States has won all its titles since 2000, including nine in thirteen years since 2003. China has won twice.[2] 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, has no parallel in the men's game, given that there are fewer professional women's leagues and thus fewer scheduling conflicts. It is 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.

  1. ^ "Women's game thriving in the Algarve". FIFA. 9 March 2011. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Algarve Cup (Women)". RSSSF.