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According to data from theKorean Central News Agency, women's football in the country began to take shape in 1985. The first football team was formed in the Society of Provincial Sports ofSouth Pyongan Province (Korean: 평안남도체육선수단), and other women's football teams started emerging soon after. On May 19, 1986, the first exhibition match of women's football teams was played at theKim Il Sung Stadium inPyongyang.[5]
The first national match of the North Korean national team was held on December 21, 1989, against theChinese national team as part of the1989 AFC Women's Championship. The match, which took place inHong Kong, ended in a 1–4 defeat for the Koreans. Later in the same tournament, the national team played two more matches, losing 1–3 toChinese Taipei and winning 4–0 againstThailand, thus finishing third in their group.[6] In the following year, in 1990, the North Korean national team won their first international medal, securing bronze medals at theWomen's Football Tournament of the 1990 Asian Games inBeijing. They only suffered one loss to the Chinese team during the tournament and achieved a 7–0 victory against theSouth Korean national team.
The1991 AFC Women's Championship inJapan, in addition to its primary purpose, served as a qualification stage for the1991 FIFA Women's World Cup, with the top three East Asian teams earning a spot in the World Cup. The North Korean national team had a successful start in the tournament, finishing second in their subgroup, which qualified them for the semi-finals. In the semi-final match, the Koreans were defeated by the Chinese team with a score of 0–1. In the match for third place, they faced the Chinese Taipei team. The regular and extra time of the match ended in a goalless draw, and the winner was determined in a penalty shootout, in which the North Korean national team lost 4–5,[7] finishing fourth in the tournament and narrowly missing qualification for the World Cup. The1993 AFC Women's Championship brought silver medals to the North Korean team, as they only lost the final match to the Chinese team with a score of 3–0.[8] The North Korean team missed the1995 FIFA Women's World Cup tournament as they were absent from1994 Asian Games held inHiroshima, which served as a parallel qualification for the World Cup. The North Korean national team was also absent from the1995 AFC Women's Championship.
For the first time in their history, the Korean women's team secured a spot in the World Cup after finishing as runners-up in the1997 AFC Women's Championship. In the semi-finals, they defeated theJapanese national team with a score of 1–0. In the final match, they faced the Chinese team once more and were defeated 0–2.[9] At the1998 Asian Games, the North Korean national team reached the final again but lost 0–1 to its China counterparts. In their firstWorld Cup, the North Korean team was placed in a group withNigeria,Denmark, and the tournament hosts, theUnited States. They lost their first match against Nigeria 1–2, but bounced back in the second match to defeat the Danish team 3–1. A 0–3 loss to the United States in the final group-stage match left the North Korean team in third place in the group, preventing them from reaching thetournament's knockout stage.[10]
During the team's participation at the2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, on 7 July 2011,FIFA announced that two of its players,Song Jong-Sun andJong Pok-Sim, had failed doping tests during the tournament and were provisionally suspended prior to their team's match against Colombia.[11] On 16 July, FIFA announced that three additional players from North Korea tested positive following target testing of the whole team.[12] North Korea reasoned the positive doping results in fromdeer musk-derivedChinese traditional medicine used to treat players hit by lightning.[13] On 25 August 2011, the North Korean team was finedUS$ 400,000 which is equal to the prize it received by finishing 13th in the 2011 tournament, and was excluded from participation at the2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, includingits qualification round.[14]
After it won the2019 Cyprus Women's Cup in March 2019, the team was inactive until the2022 Asian Games (played in September 2023) partially due to theCOVID-19 pandemic;[15] during this time, the team became unranked due to a lack of FIFA-recognized play.[16] The team's ranking has since been restored.[17] North Korea would almost qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics losing to Japan in the two-legthird round Olympic qualifiers.[18]
As of the June 2024FIFA rankings, the team is ranked 10th in the world.[19]
1 (7 August 2025)[1]
China 4–1North Korea 
North Korea 24–0Singapore 
France 5–0North Korea 
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