The Algarve Cup 2018 was the 25th edition of this important tournament series for women's national football teams and took place from February 28 to March 7, 2018, as in previous years, at various venues in the Algarve , the southernmost region of Portugal . As in the two previous years, record winners USA and Olympic champions Germany as well as England and France did not take part because they met at the same time in the third SheBelieves Cup . The top participants in the FIFA world rankings were Australia (4th), Canada (5th), European champions Netherlands (7th), Japan (9th) and Sweden (10th). Last year's winner Spain took part in the Cyprus Cup and won it. For the Asian participants, the tournament also served as preparation for the Asian Championship in April, with the team from South Korea taking part for the first time.
Twelve national teams took part in the tournament. Since FIFA classified the games as friendlies, each team was allowed to replace six players per game, which could take place with a maximum of four game interruptions, of which a maximum of three in the second half.
For the ranking in the groups in the event of a tie, the direct comparison was first applied, then the better goal difference from all group matches, then the higher number of goals scored in all group matches, the fair play rating and, as a final criterion, the placement in the FIFA world rankings. Only in group 1 had the higher number of goals scored in all group games to decide on the placement in the first two places, although Australia only managed to overtake Portugal by scoring 2-0 in stoppage time.
If two equally ranked teams in different groups were equal on points, the better goal difference from all group matches was used for allocation to the placement matches, followed by the higher number of goals scored in all group matches, the fair play rating and, as a final criterion, the placement in the FIFA world rankings. The better goal difference (+5) was decisive for the Netherlands and Sweden to reach the final, which was no longer played, while Australia, as group winners of the first group, played for third place with a goal difference of +3. For all other teams, the assignment to the placement games was based on the placement and number of points in the group games.
The locations of the placement games were only determined after the pairings were established. Placement games that ended in a draw after regular time were decided by a penalty shoot-out.
For the first time the final was not played and the first place was awarded to both finalists, as the weather conditions prevented the game.
The Dutch women reached the final for the first time when they participated for the fifth time.
The Australian Clare Polkinghorne made her 100th international match during the tournament . For the South Korean Ji So-yun , her 100th international match was not included in her statistics, as the game for 7th place against Norway was abandoned after 45 minutes.
Host Portugal achieved their best position so far with third place and defeated an Asian team (China), Norway and Australia for the first time on the way there.
10th place is the worst place for Denmark so far.
Japan became the fairest team for the fourth time, drawing level with Sweden, who only came second because of the higher average age of the players.
The Canadian Christine Sinclair is now the first player to be top scorer in both the Algarve Cup and the Cyprus Cup (2008 and 2009).
Netherlands (1st title) Sweden (4th title)
Portugal ( Algarve )
Christine Sinclair , Lieke Martens , Fridolina Rolfö (3 each)
yellow cards
Yellow-red cards
Red cards
Australia
People's Republic of China
Denmark
Iceland
Japan
Norway
Russia
South Korea
