<P> Women's soccer in the United States has developed quite differently from men's soccer . Until the 1970s, organized women's soccer matches in the United States existed only on a limited basis . The United States is now regarded as one of the top countries in the world for women's soccer, and FIFA ranked its national team No. 1 in the world after its championship victory in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup . </P> <P> The highest women's professional soccer league in the United States is the National Women's Soccer League . The NWSL was established in 2013 as a successor to Women's Professional Soccer and is run by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF). The league began with eight teams and has since expanded to ten, with the most recent expansion being the Orlando Pride . The NWSL season runs from April to August or September, with each team scheduled for 24 regular season games, 12 each at home and on the road . The NWSL is the third attempt at a women's professional league in the United States and has been the most resilient, expanding to 10 teams in 2016 and becoming the first to play a fourth season . </P> <P> The first organized women's soccer league in the United States was the Craig Club Girls Soccer League, which consisted of four teams in St. Louis, Missouri, playing 15 - game seasons in 1950 and 1951 . </P> <P> Women's soccer in the United States started to gain popularity in the beginning of the 20th century, much later than it appeared in Europe, which had women's leagues in the 1930s . In the 1970s, Title IX legislation passed in 1972 made gender equality mandatory in education, including collegiate athletics, which led to more organized women's soccer teams and development . Collegiate soccer created more popularity for the game in the 1980s . However, there were few professional opportunities for women in the United States, and the first national women's league, the USL W - League, wouldn't be established until 1995 . </P>

When did women's soccer start in the united states