Women’s World Cup Trivia: Records, Firsts & Surprises Ahead of 2025 Edition

The 13th edition of the Women's 50-over World Cup (since the tournament’s inception in 1973) will run from September 30 until November 2, with venues across India and Sri Lanka to be used for the eight-team tournament. This will be the last time that the tournament is being played with eight teams. The World Cup will have 10 teams playing 48 matches from 2029 (up from eight teams, and 31 matches, till 2025).

Defending champions Australia, who clinched their seventh title in 2022, went on to top ICC Women’s Championship Standings, with the top six teams of the competition qualified automatically for the World Cup. Thus England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka also punched their ticket alongside hosts India, with the final two spots decided by the Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier, played earlier in the year. Pakistan and Bangladesh booked their place by finishing in the top two in the Qualifier.

Believe it or not but a Women’s Cricket World Cup was held even before the Men’s in 1973. England hosted four teams, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago and two other teams were formed named Young England and International XI to compete at the seven-team event.

A trivia:

Most Successful Team: Australians are the most successful team in the tournament history, winning the World Cup seven times, a record in all World Cups, men’s or women’s. They are the defending champions. Australia will try to become the first side to defend the Women's 50-over World Cup title in 37 years.

First hosts England: They have won the World Cup on four occasions.

Another winner: New Zealand are the only other team apart from Australia and England to have won the World Cup.

Maximum representation: Australia, England and New Zealand, the three trophy winners are incidentally the only three teams who have participated in all previous 12 editions and are participating in the 13th edition as well.

India representation: The second team with the most participation, other than the above three, is India. They only missed two tournaments viz the inaugural edition in England in 1973 and the fourth edition in Australia in 1988.

Last team to debut in World Cup: Bangladesh in 2022 and it was the first time in 25 years that a team made its World Cup debut.

Notable absentee this time: Although West Indies gave a record-shattering performance in their final match against Thailand in the Qualifier, scored 10.44 runs per over (the highest in a women’s ODI) but couldn’t surpass the Bangladesh NRR and got eliminated from the event for the first time in over two decades. They had qualified for every Women’s Cricket World Cup since 1993.

Australia

Appearances: 13

Best Results: Winners (1978, 1982, 1988, 1997, 2005, 2013, 2022)

England

Appearances: 13

Best Results: Winners (1973, 1993, 2009, 2017)

New Zealand

Appearances: 13

Best Results: Winners (2000)

India

Appearances: 11

Best Results: Runners-up (2005, 2017)

South Africa

Appearances: 8

Best Results: Semi-Finalists (2000, 2017)

Sri Lanka

Appearances: 7

Best Results: Quarter-finals (1997), Super 8s (2013)

Pakistan

Appearances: 6

Best Results: Super Six Stage (2009)

Bangladesh

Appearances: 2

Also Read: LIVE Cricket Score

Best Results: Debut in 2022