SheBelieves CupOrganizer(s)United States Soccer FederationFounded2016; 10 years ago (2016)Region United StatesTeams4Current champion Japan (1st title)Most championships United States (7 titles)WebsiteOfficial website 2026 SheBelieves Cup
The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women’s soccer tournament held in different cities in the United States in late February or early March. In its first three years (2016, 2017, and 2018), it was contested by the same four teams: the United States, England, France, and Germany. Since 2019, the tournament lineup has featured different teams each year.
The SheBelieves Cup is played at the same time of year as other invitational tournaments such as the Algarve Cup, the Arnold Clark Cup, the Cup of Nations, the Cyprus Women’s Cup, the Istria Cup, the Pinatar Cup, the Tournoi de France, the Turkish Women’s Cup and the Women’s Revelations Cup.
The SheBelieves movement was inspired by the US national team in their 2015 run-up to the World Cup. SheBelieves, a US Soccer strategy and marketing campaign,[1] is meant to encourage young women to achieve their dreams, regardless of whether or not they are tied to athletics. SheBelieves is dedicated to women’s empowerment, a theme which has evolved into a bond between US Soccer and its fans as the team has spread this message to communities across the country. The United States Soccer Federation serves as SheBelieves Ambassadors, launching a new program to unite and elevate nonprofits, women’s sports organizations, and influencers with the shared goal of positively impacting girls and women.[2]
The SheBelieves Summit, which took place virtually in 2021, is a major component of programming around the tournament itself. Its purpose is to empower young women and girls using the three core pillars of SheBelieves: confidence, career, and community.[3] The summit includes panels, fireside chats, and breakout sessions designed to provide event attendees with hands-on experience and tools for success.[3] Event programming features various female speakers, from women in STEM to professional athletes.[4]
In its third year, some notable speakers for the 2021 event included:[4]
- Abby Wambach
- Sage Steele
- Cindy Parlow Cone
- Tierna Davidson
- Danielle Slaton
- Cathy Engelbert
The four invited teams play in a round-robin tournament, held over three match days in different cities.[5] Points awarded in the group stage followed the formula of three points for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss. A tie in points would be decided by goal difference; other tie-breakers are used as needed in the following order: goal difference, goals scored, head-to-head result, and a fair play score based on the number of yellow and red cards.
For the 2024 edition only, due to the change in FIFA competition windows and the staging of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup in February and March, the format was changed, with four matches instead of the usual six. The teams only played semifinals, a third-place game, and the championship game.[6]
# Year Winner Runner-up Third place Fourth place Teams 1 2016 United States Germany England France 4 2 2017 France Germany England United States 4 3 2018 United States England France Germany 4 4 2019 England United States Japan Brazil 4 5 2020 United States Spain England Japan 4 6 2021 United States Brazil Canada Argentina 4 7 2022 United States Iceland Czech Republic New Zealand 4 8 2023 United States Japan Brazil Canada 4 9 2024 United States Canada Brazil Japan 4 10 2025 Japan United States Colombia Australia 4 11 2026 4
* Host nation (United States)
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal1 United States*72092 England11353 Japan11134 France10125 Germany02026 Brazil01237 Canada01128 Iceland0101 Spain010110 Colombia0011 Czech Republic0011Totals (11 entries)10101030 Team 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Years United States 1st 4th 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd Q 11 Argentina – – – – – 4th – – – – Q 2 Australia – – – – – – – – – 4th – 1 Brazil – – – 4th – 2nd – 3rd 3rd – – 4 Colombia – – – – – – – – – 3rd Q 2 Canada – – – – – 3rd – 4th 2nd – Q 4 Czech Republic – – – – – – 3rd – – – – 1 England 3rd 3rd 2nd 1st 3rd – – – – – – 5 France 4th 1st 3rd – – – – – – – – 3 Germany 2nd 2nd 4th – – – – – – – – 3 Iceland – – – – – – 2nd – – – – 1 Japan – – – 3rd 4th – – 2nd 4th 1st – 5 New Zealand – – – – – – 4th – – – – 1 Spain – – – – 2nd – – – – – – 1 Total (14) 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 As of February 26, 2025 Rank Team Part M W D L GF GA GD Points 1 United States 10 29 21 5 3 52 18 +34 68 2 England 5 15 5 3 7 17 16 +1 18 3 Japan 5 14 5 2 7 22 20 +1 17 4 France 3 9 3 3 3 10 8 +2 12 5 Brazil 4 11 5 0 6 12 15 −3 11 6 Germany 3 9 3 2 4 7 10 −3 11 7 Canada 3 8 4 0 4 6 11 −5 8 8 Spain 1 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6 9 Iceland 1 3 2 0 1 3 6 −3 6 10 Colombia 1 3 1 0 2 3 7 -4 3 11 Czech Republic 1 3 0 2 1 1 2 −1 2 12 New Zealand 1 3 0 1 2 0 6 −6 1 13 Australia 1 3 0 0 3 2 8 -6 0 14 Argentina 1 3 0 0 3 1 11 −10 0 Year Player 2016 Alex Morgan 2017 Camille Abily 2020 Alexia Putellas 2021 Rose Lavelle 2022 Catarina Macario 2023 Mallory Swanson 2024 Sophia Smith 2025 Mina Tanaka As of February 26, 2025 Rank Name Total 1 Mallory Swanson 8 2 Megan Rapinoe 7 3 Ellen White 5 Alex Morgan Mina Tanaka 6 Debinha 4 Christen Press 8 Eugénie Le Sommer 3 Catarina Macario
- Official website, USSoccer.com (in English)
- North America portal
- United states portal
- Sports portal
- Association football portal
- Women’s association football portal
