The 4th Women's World Cup 2003

20 September to 12 October, 2003, USA

1999 Champions - United States of America

Germany won the 4th FIFA Women’s World Cup in extra time following a 1-1 draw at regulation time.

Originally to be played in China PR, the competition was relocated to the United States of America due to the SARS scare at that time.

Background

Previous Cups

After several unofficial tournaments, such as the Coppa del Mondo 1970 (Italy), the Mundial 1971 (Mexico), the series of Women's Mundialito's 1982-1988 (Italy), the Women's World Invitation Tournament 1987 (Taiwan) and finally FIFA's Women's Invitation Tournament 1988 (China), FIFA started a World Cup tournament for women in 1991.

Final Draw

The Final Draw will determine the group stage matches between the 16 national associations that will compete for the title of Women’s World Champion in the 32-match, 23-day tournament that will take place in the United States between 20 September and 12 October. All but one of the 16 berths of the competition have been filled by teams representing all six confederations around the globe: China PR, DPR Korea and Korea Republic (AFC), Nigeria and Ghana (CAF), Canada and host USA (CONCACAF), Brazil and Argentina (CONMEBOL), Australia (OFC), as well as Germany, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and France (UEFA). The final entrant will be determined following the second match of a two-game playoff contested by Mexico and Japan on Sunday, 12 July at the National Stadium in Tokyo. The two competing teams thrilled more than 75,000 spectators with a dramatic 2-2 draw in the first leg on 5 July at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.

The Teams

The teams will be decided via national confederation tournaments as follows - 

AFC will be represented by China PR, DPR Korea and Korea Republic.

CAF will be represented by two teams - Nigeria and Ghana from the the African Championship for Women's Football.

CONCACAF will have 2.5 teams depending on play-off with AFC - United States, Canada, Mexico (play-off with 3rd AFC).

CONMEBOL will be represented by two teams - Brazil and Argentina. 

OFC will have 1 representative - Australia.

UEFA will have 5 teams - Germany, Norway, Russia, Sweden and France.

FIFA Women’s World Ranking

In preparation for the world’s premier football event for women, FIFA will lift the veil of secrecy over who is topping the FIFA Women’s World Ranking at a press conference on 16 July, as it will play an important part in the Final Draw itself. For the Final Draw, the sixteen participating national associations will be divided into four groups of four teams, each headed by seeded nations. The FIFA Women’s World Ranking will determine which three teams will join the host and defending champion USA as the top seeded teams.

In addition, the FIFA Women’s World Ranking (published four times a year) will provide women's football with an objective yardstick for measuring the sporting performance of a steadily expanding number of national teams. FIFA has gone to great lengths to establish a women’s football database so that reliable statistics can now be evaluated. With the help of the international sports information provider Infostrada Sports, more than 3,000 international matches dating back to 1971 up to the end of June 2003 (approximately 50% friendlies) have been taken into account.