Is international women’s soccer less balanced and intense than men’s? Competitive balance and competitive intensity in FIFA World Cups from 1990 to 2019

This research tests whether international men’s soccer benefits from a better intra-match competitive balance than international women’s soccer based on its evolution in FIFA World Cups since 1990. The indicator corresponds to the percentage of game-time with a difference of no more than one goal between teams. Fluctuations are also accounted for, calculated as the average number of changes from draw to no draw/no draw to draw. The results show that women’s World Cups have always been less balanced than men’s World Cups over the period studied. However, they have considerably reduced the gap over time. Besides, when the focus is on situations where the next goal can impact teams’ qualification (competitive intensity) rather than a difference of no more than one goal (not relevant when both teams are already eliminated, for example), the percentage of game-time was equal to 80.8% for women in 2015 vs. 79.6% for men in 2014, with almost identical fluctuations. These results are consistent with the international development of women’s soccer over the last three decades.