The 3rd Women's World Cup 1999

19 June - 10 July 1999, USA

1999 & 1991 Champions - United States of America

The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was won by the USA for the second time in its short history.

This year the competition took on the added importance of serving as qualification for the September 2000 Olympics 8-nation women's soccer competition held in Sydney, Australia.

The best three losing quarterfinalists - Germany, Nigeria and Sweden, along with the four winners - USA, China, Norway and Brazil, advanced to the 2000 Olympics. Hosts Australia (who did not make it to the quarterfinals) qualified as the 8th entrant at the expense of Russia, the fourth losing quarterfinalist.

The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup is scheduled to be played in four cities in China - Shanghai, Hangzhou, Wuhan and Chengdu - from 28 September to 16 October 2003, with 16 teams taking part. As host, the United States gains an automatic berth into the tournament.

The 16 slots are allocated as follows: