2003 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification explained

Tourney Name:2003 FIFA Women's World Cup Qualification
Dates:25 August 2001 – 12 July 2003
Num Teams:99
Confederations:6
Prevseason:1999
Nextseason:2007

The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification process decided the 15 teams which played at the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, with the host China initially qualified automatically as the host nation.The qualification process for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup saw 99 teams from the six FIFA confederations compete for the 16 places in the tournament's finals. The places were divided as follows:

Qualified teams

TeamQualified asQualification datedata-sort-type="number"Appearance
in finals
Last
appearance
Consecutive
streak
Previous best performance

Runners-up (2003 AFC Women's Championship)
4th 4
UEFA qualification Group 4 winners 4th 4
UEFA qualification Group 1 winners 4th 4
UEFA qualification Group 3 winners 2nd 2
UEFA qualification Group 2 winners 4th 4
2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup runners-up 3rd 3
2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup champions 4th 4
UEFA qualification Play-Off winners 1st 1
2002 African Women's Championship runners-up 2nd 2
2002 African Women's Championship champions 4th 4
2003 OFC Women's Championship champions 3rd 3
2003 South American Women's Football Championship champions 4th 4
1st 1
2003 AFC Women's Championship champions 2nd 2
2003 AFC Women's Championship 3rd place 1st 1
CONCACAF–AFC play-off winners 4th 4

Confederation qualification

AFC

See main article: 2003 AFC Women's Championship. Like the previous edition, the AFC Women's Championship served as the tournament qualification for AFC members. Fourteens competed in the competition which included the World Cup hosts in China. After the group stage which eliminated ten teams from qualifying, the semi-finals saw the first team in North Korea as they defeated Japan 3-0. After China won the second semi, the third-place play-off would see South Korea qualify with a 1-0 victory over Japan which meant Japan had to qualify via play-off against the third place team from CONCACAF (Mexico).

Final tournament

Group A

width=175 Teamwidth=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25
align=left 4310452+4310
align=left 4310202+1810
align=left 4202621−156
align=left 4103224−223
align=left 4004024−240

Group B

width=175 Teamwidth=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25
4400340+3412
align=left 4211118+37
align=left 42117707
align=left 4103226−243
align=left 4004215−130

Group C

width=175 Teamwidth=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25
align=left 3300290+299
align=left 320169−36
align=left 3102714−73
align=left 3003221−190

Knockout stage (top two teams qualify for World Cup)

CAF

See main article: 2002 African Women's Championship. Like the previous edition, the Africa Women's Championship served as the tournament qualification for CAF members.

Qualifying stage

See main article: 2002 African Women's Championship qualification.

The seven winners of the second qualifying round advanced to the final tournament: Angola, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

Final tournament

Group A

width=175 Teamwidth=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=100 Qualification
330060+69Knockout stage
320182+66
301239−61
301228−61

Group B

width=25 width=175 Teamwidth=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=100 Qualification
1321063+37Knockout stage
231112204
3302123−12
4302124−22

Knockout stage (top two teams qualify for World Cup)

Europe (UEFA)

See main article: 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification (UEFA).

Qualified: -- -- -- --

The 16 teams belonging to Class A of European women's football were drawn into four groups, from which the group winners qualify for the World Cup. The four runners-up were played in playoff-matches for the 5th berth.

North, Central America & the Caribbean (CONCACAF)

See main article: 2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup.

Qualified: --

The 2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup second-placed Canada qualified for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. The winner USA qualified as host. The third-placed Mexico played against Japan in two play-off matches for qualification.

Oceania (OFC)

See main article: 2003 OFC Women's Championship.

Qualified:

The 2003 OFC Women's Championship determined the OFC's one qualifier for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup — the winner Australia.

South America (CONMEBOL)

See main article: 2003 Sudamericano Femenino.

Qualified: --

The fourth edition of the Sudamericano Femenino (Women's South American Championship) in 2003 determined the CONMEBOL's qualifiers Brazil and Argentina.

CONCACAF–AFC play-off

See main article: 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification (CONCACAF–AFC play-off).

External links