History
The FIFA held its first women's world soccer championship in 1991. It is naturally referred to as the "Women's World Cup," although that's not the official name.
Like the men's World Cup, the women's championship tournament is held every four years, but in the year preceding the Summer Olympics.
Sixteen countries are invited to the tournament and are divided into four groups, with the teams in each group playing a preliminary round-robin tournament. The top two teams from each group then advance into a single-elimination tournament.
Adidas sponsors awards for the tournament's outstanding player and leading scorer. The outstanding player receives the Golden Ball Award, with the Silver and Bronze Ball Awards going to the second- and third-place finishers in media voting.
The Golden Shoe Award goes to the top scorer, and the next two leading scorers receive the Silver and Bronze Shoe awards, respectively.
The next tournament will be played in China in 2003.