The Mundialito ( Spanish for "little World Cup") was a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football. Held on four occasions in the northern region of Italy since 1984, it was one of the most prestigious women's football events, prior to the advent of the

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

and Women's Olympic Football.

History

The first edition of the tournament was played in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in September 1981. Italy drew 1–1 with Denmark then beat

9–0, while England beat Japan 4–0 but lost 1–0 to Denmark. Japan–Denmark and England–Italy fixtures were not played. In 1984 and 1985, the teams first played round-robin within a single pool, then a further match to decide the winner and third place. In 1986 and 1988, the preliminary round was contested within two groups, each sending a team to participate in the final match. The most successful teams were Italy with three titles and England with two titles. The 1985 tournament was notable for the international debut of the United States women's national soccer team. Another more recent international tournament for women's football teams, the Algarve Cup, has also been unofficially known as the ''Mundialito''.

Results

References

External links

RSSSF.com history page, with links to full results
{{International women's football International association football competitions in Europe International association football competitions hosted by Italy Women's football competitions in Italy Recurring sporting events established in 1982 International women's association football invitational tournaments