Four years ago, the United States and Thailand were the very last teams to begin their Women’s World Cup campaigns. As defending champions, the USWNT were eager to lay down a marker, a warning sign to their competitors that they didn’t intend to relinquish their crown without a fight.
And, with a historic 13-0 drubbing of their opponents, that’s exactly what they accomplished.
In eight editions of the Women’s World Cup from 1991 to 2019, we have seen some very lopsided results. As the tournament field has expanded, debutant countries have had to endure some growing pains before finding their footing.
The highest margin of victory in the 2011 World Cup was only four goals. The reason for such close competition may be that the 2011 tournament was the fourth straight edition with a field of 16 teams. As the 2023 World Cup expands the field from 24 to 32 teams, we may yet see a few more historic results, such as the Netherlands beating Vietnam 7-0 to beat the USWNT to the top of Group E.
Here are the 10 biggest margins of victory ever seen at the Women’s World Cup, with all but two of these results taking place during the group stage…
Netherlands 7-0 Vietnam on August 1, 2023
Rising star Esmee Brugts scored two sublime long-range strikes as the Netherlands rediscovered…
