German women have long been known for their athleticism and toughness, so it is not extremely surprising that they’ve dominated European women’s football since the 80′s. Although Sweden won the first national team competition in 84′, Germany has asserted their dominance since the late 80′s and have won several championships since then.

With the rise of popularity of women’s football in Europe during the 1990′s, Germany proved themselves to be legitimate contenders early in the existence of associated women’s football.
Germany won their first notable women’s football championship in 1989, after beating Denmark in 4-1 in a 16 game tournament. The German women’s football team went on to win again the next year in the 1989/91 championship, after the tournament was officially named the “European Championship”.

Despite the dominance asserted early on by Germany, other nations throughout Europe gained interest in the sport during the 90′s, and the skills of players in Sweden and Italy continued to progress. Nonetheless, Germany won yet another championship in the 1993-1995 European Championship tournaments against their rival Sweden, fully utilizing their home field advantage. Germany continued to savor victory during the following years, as they won again in the 1995-1997 tournaments, after defeating Italy 2-0 in July of 97′. That year the tournament was changed to a quad-annual event (happening once every four years, rather than three years), and the next tournament, held in 2001, was also won by Germany, who pulled a hat trick while defeating their rival Sweden yet again.