Champions:
1st place: USA; 2nd place: Norway; 3rd place: Sweden
Queens of the Cups
A cup to call our own
The first Women's World Cup was officially held by FIFA in 1991, but the Federation was still reluctant to name the event the World Cup. At the time, it was named after its sponsor, the chocolate brand M&M's. The resistance to valuing women's football did not prevent teams from taking advantage of FIFA's endorsement to pursue professionalization. A broader struggle, at the international level, intensified from that moment on.
The Brazilian team fell into a killer bracket, with the teams from Japan, Sweden and the United States, and was eliminated in the group stage. The only goal scored by the team, by defender Elane Rego, was the first for the Brazilian team in official competition. And it would mark a trajectory of struggle that came from afar — and that was already aimed at future generations.
BOX
The city of Guangzhou, which had hosted the 1988 Experimental Tournament, was also the host of the 1st World Championship. China would host the event again in 2007, a tradition that was born out of pioneering the promotion of women's football championships since the 1970s. It also counted on the good traffic of the country in the FIFA Organizing Committee. The Chinese people's warm and encouraging reception to the national teams, both inside and outside the stadium, certainly weighed in their favor, too.
History:
Claudia de Vasconcellos Guedes
In 1991, being at the World Cup as an athlete was a historic feat, but acting as a referee at a World Cup was simply unheard of. The first woman to referee a match in an official FIFA tournament was the Brazilian Claudia de Vasconcellos Guedes, who commanded the dispute for third place between Sweden and Germany (4x0). Accompanied by assistant referees Linda Black (New Zealand) and Zuo Xiudi (China), the “carioca” carried all the pressure to guarantee an exemplary performance, which paved the way for women in the category. In her memory, Claudia highlights the satisfaction of blowing the final whistle to the match with the feeling of accomplishment. In fact, her firmness and precision at the time made FIFA finally adopt an official list of female referees for the following World Cup and, already in 1999, start to appoint only women to command the matches of the Women's Cup.
Curiosities:
In 1991, when the World Cup started, 62 countries had already played an international match through their Federations.
Nigeria opened the Cup with a team that had an average age of 18 years and 8 months: the youngest at any World Cup or Olympic Games.
Photo Elane (reverse – pivoting interactive)
Defender Elane dos Santos Rego, scorer of the only goal for Brazil in this edition, in a game against Japan, after a corner kick.
Photo Mia Hamm (reverse – pivoting interactive)
The American striker Mia Hamm, in her first World Cup. She was one of the top scorers in the United States and won the FIFA Best Player of the Year award twice, in 2001 (the first year of the women's award) and 2002.
Stamp/ticket and banner
1. Postage stamp honoring the World Cup, released on the first day of the event. 2. Banner signed by the American players winning the Cup, including Joy Fawcett, Julie Foudy, Linda Hamilton, Kristine Lilly, captain April Heinrichs and young Mia Hamm. 3. Tickets of the match.
Rosa and Solange audios – same tablet
Brief by Rosa Lima, who comments on the free time during the competition. Duration: 59s
Brief by Soró (Solange Bastos) about the warm reception of the crowd
at the place. Duration: 1min30s
Audios
Rosa — on break, the group split up and left the security guards lost; on the next day off, there were no security guards at all
Elane — description of the goal she scored against Japan in the World Cup, with a pass from Sissi
Solange — applause from the crowd as she leaves the bus to the locker room, the most emotional moment of her life, she had never played with so many supporters
Subtitles
Team photo
First line, from left to right: Dai, Adriana, Cenira, Pelezinha, Rosa, Marisa, Russa, Nalvinha, Danda, Pretinha, Toy, Roseli and Marcia Honório. Second line: Irá, Marcia Tafarel, Solange; Meg, Elane, Fia Carioca, Michael Jackson, Miriam, Suzy and Fanta.
Photo Elane (reverse – pivoting interactive)
Defender Elane dos Santos Rego, scorer of the only goal for Brazil in this edition, in a game against Japan, after a corner kick.
Photo Mia Hamm (reverse – pivoting interactive)
The American striker Mia Hamm, in her first World Cup. She was one of the top scorers in the United States and won the FIFA Best Player of the Year award twice, in 2001 (the first year of the women's award) and 2002.
Stamp/ticket and banner
1. Postage stamp honoring the World Cup, released on the first day of the event. 2. Banner signed by the American players winning the Cup, including Joy Fawcett, Julie Foudy, Linda Hamilton, Kristine Lilly, captain April Heinrichs and young Mia Hamm. 3. Tickets of the match.
Rosa and Solange audios – same tablet
Brief by Rosa Lima, who comments on the free time during the competition. Duration: 59s
Brief by Soró (Solange Bastos) about the warm reception of the crowd
at the place. Duration: 1min30s
Elane goal model
This tactile representation demonstrates how the first goal of the Brazilian women's team was in the first edition of the FIFA World Cup. Elane, the team's defender, scored the goal after a corner kick made by Sissi against the Japan team, in a 1-0 Brazilian victory. Elane, at the time, did not know the dimension of the important milestone. This goal did not have an audiovisual record, and therefore, this piece tries to rescue this memory of “yellow shirt” football.
Elane Audio
Testimony by Elane dos Santos Rego about the historic goal. Duration: 1min58s
Photo caption Fernando Pires – interactive monocle
Coach Fernando Pires recorded the backstage of the Brazilian team in the 1991 World Cup. Get in the mood for the early 1990s and explore some of these shots in monocles.