<P> The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international 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 body . The competition has been held every four years since 1991, when the inaugural tournament, then called the FIFA Women's World Championship, was held in China . </P> <P> Under the tournament's current format, national teams vie for 23 slots in a three - year qualification phase . (The host nation's team is automatically entered as the 24th slot .) The tournament proper, alternatively called the World Cup Finals, is contested at venues within the host nation (s) over a period of about one month . </P> <P> The seven FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments have been won by four national teams . The current champion is the United States, after winning their third title in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup . </P> <P> In 1988--58 years after the first Men's FIFA World Cup tournament in 1930 and approximately 17 years after the FA ban on women's football was eliminated in 1971--FIFA hosted an invitational in China as a test to see if a global women's World Cup was feasible . Twelve national teams took part in the competition--four from UEFA, three from AFC, two from CONCACAF and one each from CONMEBOL, CAF and OFC . The tournament saw European champion Norway defeat Sweden 1--0 in the final to win the tournament, while Brazil clinched third place by beating the hosts in a penalty shootout . The competition was deemed a success and on 30 June FIFA approved the establishment of an official World Cup, which was to take place in 1991 again in China . Again, twelve teams competed, this time culminating in the United States beating Norway in the final 2 - 1 . </P>

Who won last year's women's world cup
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