Japan's women's football team has won the 2011 World Cup championship, beating the United States in a penalty shootout following a 2-2 draw after extra time.

The win Sunday made Japan the first Asian nation to win the World Cup title, and it denied the United States a chance to become the first team to win the championship three times. The Americans won the World Cup in 1991 and 1999.

The U.S. team was top-ranked in this year's tournament. As such, it was the strong favorite to win the finals match played in Frankfurt, Germany.

On Sunday of last week, the United States scored a come-from-behind victory over Brazil to get into the semifinals, and then beat France Wednesday to reach the finals.

Japan qualified for the finals by defeating Sweden Wednesday. It earlier scored a quarterfinal victory over host team Germany.