Football Women's World Cup 1999 / Qualification

Qualification for the 1999 Women's World Cup

The qualifying matches for the women's soccer World Cup in 1999 took place from July 19, 1997 to December 19, 1998.

88 associations had registered for the World Cup. But only 71 teams could start in the actual World Cup qualification. Because UEFA sorted out 18 weak European teams who had already played a pre-qualification for the 2003 World Cup . Since the host USA was automatically qualified for the World Cup finals and three African teams withdrew, a total of 67 teams fought for 15 World Cup places. All qualification options include either the championship or the cup system.

For the world championship tournament in the USA in 1999, a total of 88 teams had registered, including

• 16 teams from Europe , class A: played for qualification for the 1999 World Cup final
• 18 teams from Europe, class B: played for class A membership in the 2003 World Cup qualification
• 10 teams from South America
• 12 teams from North and Central America
• 15 teams from Africa
• 11 teams from Asia
• 6 teams from Oceania

Qualified teams

6 to Europe	Sweden	Italy	Norway
	Denmark	Germany	Russia
1½ to South America	Brazil
1½ to North and Central America	Canada	Mexico *
2 to Africa	Nigeria	Ghana
3 to Asia	North Korea	People's Republic of China	Japan
1 to Oceania	Australia
1 to the host	United States

European Zone / UEFA

The teams were divided into two classes according to their level of performance.
The strong teams in Class A and weaker in class B .

Class A: 16 teams play the six finalists of the 1999 World Cup in four groups of four . The four group winners qualified directly for the World Cup finals, the four group runners-up identified two more participants in two playoffs.

Class B: 18 teams played in two groups of four and two groups of five. The four group winners of the B -class played a relegation against the four bottom group of the A-class . The four winners of the relegation qualified for the A-class of the World Cup qualification for the 2003 World Cup . None of the participants in the B-Class had the opportunity to qualify for the 1999 World Cup.

Class a

Group 1

08/30/97 09/07/97 09/28/97 11/02/97 05/03/98 05/24/98	Iceland - Sweden Iceland - Ukraine Sweden - Ukraine Spain - Ukraine Spain - Sweden Sweden - Spain	1: 3 3: 2 3: 2 1: 2 1: 2 3: 1	05/31/98 06/07/98 06/14/98 08/08/98 08/26/98 08/30/98	Spain - Iceland Ukraine - Spain Iceland - Spain Ukraine - Sweden Sweden - Iceland Ukraine - Iceland	0: 0 2: 1 1: 1 0: 5 2: 0 1: 0		country	Gates	Pt
						1.	Sweden **	18: 5	18th
						2.	Ukraine *	9:13	9
						3.	Iceland	5: 9	5
						4th	Spain	5:10	2

Group 2

06.09.97 04.10.97 18.10.97 01.11.97 22.11.97 11.04.98	Finland - Switzerland Switzerland - France France - Finland Switzerland - Italy Italy - France France - Italy	1: 0 1: 2 2: 2 1: 3 0: 0 2: 3	05/02/98 05/05/98 05/16/98 05/23/98 06/06/98 06/27/98	France - Switzerland Italy - Finland Italy - Switzerland Finland - France Switzerland - Finland Finland - Italy	3: 0 1: 0 2: 0 1: 0 0: 1 1: 2		country	Gates	Pt
						1.	Italy **	11: 4	16
						2.	Finland *	6: 5	10
						3.	France	9: 7	8th
						4th	Switzerland	2:12	0

Group 3

25.09.97 01.10.97 30.10.97 06.11.97 13.12.97 08.03.98	Germany - England Norway - Netherlands England - Netherlands Germany - Norway Netherlands - Germany England - Germany	3: 0 6: 1 1: 0 1: 0 1: 0 0: 1	04/02/98 04/18/98 05/14/98 05/23/98 06/17/98 08/15/98	Germany - Netherlands Netherlands - Norway England - Norway Netherlands - England Norway - Germany Norway - England	2: 1 0: 0 1: 2 2: 1 3: 2 2: 0		country	Gates	Pt
						1.	Norway **	13: 5	13
						2.	Germany *	9: 5	12
						3.	Netherlands	5:10	7th
						4th	England	3:10	3

Group 4

21.08.97 27.09.97 11.10.97 29.10.97 08.11.97 28.02.98	Denmark - Russia Belgium - Denmark Belgium - Russia Denmark - Portugal Portugal - Russia Portugal - Belgium	3: 1 1: 2 3: 4 4: 0 0: 2 2: 0	04/04/98 04/25/98 05/16/98 05/23/98 08/22/98 08/29/98	Belgium - Portugal Russia - Portugal Portugal - Denmark Russia - Belgium Russia - Denmark Denmark - Belgium	0: 2 2: 0 0: 7 5: 1 1: 2 4: 0		country	Gates	Pt
						1.	Denmark **	22: 3	18th
						2.	Russia *	15: 9	12
						3.	Portugal	4:15	6th
						4th	Belgium	5:19	0

Playoffs

09/17/1998	Germany	-	Ukraine	5-0
10/11/1998	Ukraine	-	Germany **	1: 1
09/12/1998	Russia	-	Finland	2: 1
10/11/1998	Finland	-	Russia **	1: 2

class B

Group 5

16.08.97 20.08.97 03.09.97 07.09.97 07.10.97 10.10.97	Lithuania - Estonia Czech Republic - Estonia Estonia - Scotland Lithuania - Scotland Estonia - Czech Republic Lithuania - Czech Republic	3: 2 6: 0 1: 7 0: 5 0: 8 0:12	04/26/98 05/03/98 05/16/98 05/23/98 05/30/98 06/27/98	Czech Republic - Scotland Scotland - Estonia Czech Republic - Lithuania Scotland - Czech Republic Scotland - Lithuania Estonia - Lithuania	1: 1 7: 0 9: 0 1: 1 17: 0 3: 0		country	Gates	Pt
						1.	Scotland	38: 3	14th
						2.	Czech Republic	37: 2	14th
						3.	Estonia	6:31	3
						4th	Lithuania	3:48	3

Group 6

09/10/97 09/21/97 08/10/97 12/10/97 02/11/97 07/12/97	Belarus - Poland Belarus - Ireland Poland - Wales Belarus - Wales Ireland - Poland Wales - Ireland	0: 1 0: 1 2: 2 4: 1 0: 1 0: 3	03/08/98 05/01/98 05/24/98 06/06/98 06/17/98 06/27/98	Ireland - Wales Wales - Poland Wales - Belarus Poland - Ireland Poland - Belarus Ireland - Belarus	4: 0 1: 5 3: 3 3: 0 3: 1 0: 0		country	Gates	Pt
						1.	Poland	15: 4	16
						2.	Ireland	8: 4	10
						3.	Belarus	8: 9	5
						4th	Wales	7:21	2

Group 7

09/10/97 09/25/97 09/28/97 10/30/97 11/02/97 11/23/97 12/5/97	Yugoslavia - Georgia Georgia - Turkey Greece - Bulgaria Turkey - Yugoslavia Greece - Yugoslavia Bulgaria - Turkey Yugoslavia - Bulgaria	11: 0 * 0: 1 * 1: 5 0: 5 2: 3 1: 2 2: 0	12/17/97 3/8/98 4/12/98 5/20/98 6/6/98 6/20/98 6/20/98	Turkey - Greece Greece - Turkey Bulgaria - Greece Yugoslavia - Turkey Bulgaria - Yugoslavia Yugoslavia - Greece Turkey - Bulgaria	1: 1 3: 2 3: 0 4: 0 1: 6 4: 1 1: 1		country	Gates	Pt
						1.	Yugoslavia	24: 4	18th
						2.	Bulgaria	11:12	7th
						3.	Turkey	6:15	5
						4th	Greece	8:18	4th
						5.	Georgia	Retreat *

Group 8

02.09.97 13.09.97 17.09.97 11.10.97 22.10.97 02.11.97 12.11.97 01.04.98 08.04.98 26.04.98	Slovakia - B. Herzegovina Romania - Slovakia Hungary - B. Herzegovina Romania - B. Herzegovina Slovakia - Hungary Israel - Romania Romania - Hungary Israel - Slovakia Israel - B. Herzegovina Slovakia - Romania	11: 0 1: 1 10: 0 4: 0 4: 0 0: 7 3: 1 0: 4 5: 0 1: 1	05/01/98 05/03/98 05/13/98 05/17/98 05/17/98 06/03/98 06/27/98 08/15/98 08/18/98 08/26/98	B. Herzegovina - Slovakia B. Herzegovina - Hungary Slovakia - Israel Hungary - Israel B. Herzegovina - Romania Hungary - Slovakia Hungary - Romania Israel - Hungary B. Herzegovina - Israel Romania - Israel	0: 7 0: 9 5: 0 5: 0 1: 8 3: 0 2: 2 0: 2 4: 1 4: 1		country	Gates	Pt
						1.	Romania	30: 7	18th
						2.	Slovakia	33: 5	17th
						3.	Hungary	32: 9	16
						4th	Israel	7:31	3
						5.	Bosnia and Herzegovina	5:55	3

Relegation matches

09/13/1998	Scotland	-	Spain +	0: 3
10/11/1998	Spain	-	Scotland	4: 1
09/12/1998	Poland	-	Switzerland	0: 1
10/10/1998	Switzerland +	-	Poland	4-0
09/13/1998	Yugoslavia	-	Belgium	3-0
10/10/1998	Belgium	-	Yugoslavia +	1: 1
09/13/1998	Romania	-	England	1: 4
10/11/1998	England +	-	Romania	2: 1

South America / CONMEBOL

The South American Championship in Mar del Plata (Argentina) also served as World Cup qualification. From two groups of five, the two group winners and runners-up qualified for the CONMEBOL semi-finals. The South American champions were qualified for the 1999 World Cup in the USA. The runner-up played against the CONCACAF runner-up for another World Cup place.

Group A

02.03.98 02.03.98 04.03.98 05.03.98 06.03.98	Colombia - Venezuela Brazil - Peru Chile - Venezuela Brazil - Colombia Chile - Peru	4: 1 15: 0 5: 0 12: 1 0: 1	06.03.98 08.03.98 08.03.98 10.03.98 10.03.98	Brazil - Venezuela Venezuela - Peru Chile - Colombia Colombia - Peru Brazil - Chile	14: 0 1: 2 1: 5 1: 2 7: 0		country	Gates	Pt
						1.	Brazil *	48: 1	12
						2.	Peru *	5:17	9
						3.	Colombia	11:16	6th
						4th	Chile	6:13	3
						5.	Venezuela	2:25	0

Group B

01.03.98 01.03.98 03.03.98 03.03.98 05.03.98	Paraguay - Uruguay Argentina - Bolivia Uruguay - Ecuador Argentina - Paraguay Argentina - Uruguay	3: 2 9: 0 2: 2 3: 0 2: 1	05.03.98 07.03.98 07.03.98 09.03.98 09.03.98	Ecuador - Bolivia Ecuador - Paraguay Uruguay - Bolivia Bolivia - Paraguay Argentina - Ecuador	5: 2 3: 0 1: 1 2: 3 2: 0		country	Gates	Pt
						1.	Argentina *	16: 1	12
						2.	Ecuador *	10: 6	7th
						3.	Paraguay	6:10	6th
						4th	Uruguay	6: 8	2
						5.	Bolivia	5:18	1

Semifinals
03/13/1998	Brazil	-	Ecuador	11: 1
03/13/1998	Argentina	-	Peru	1: 1 n.V., 4: 3 iE
3rd place match
03/15/1998	Peru	-	Ecuador	3: 3 n.V., 5: 4 iE
final
03/15/1998	Brazil **	-	Argentina *	7: 1

CONCACAF / CONMEBOL playoff

12/14/1998	Mexico	-	Argentina	3: 1
December 19, 1998	Argentina	-	Mexico **	2: 3

North and Central America / CONCACAF

The CONCACAF Women's Championship served as a qualifying tournament from August 28 to September 6, 1998 in Etobicoke and Scarborough in Canada . The winner qualified for the world championship. The runner-up played two play-off games against the runner-up in the South American qualification for participation in the World Cup. The USA were automatically qualified to host the World Cup and did not take part in the tournament.

Central zone , qualification tournament in Guatemala

Group A

07/19/98 07/21/98 07/23/98	Costa Rica - Guatemala B Haiti - Costa Rica Haiti - Guatemala B	17: 0 2: 1 7: 1		country	Gates	Pt
			1.	Haiti	9: 2	6th
			2.	Costa Rica	18: 2	3
			3.	Guatemala B	1:24	0

Group B

07/19/98 07/21/98 07/23/98	Guatemala - Honduras El Salvador - Honduras Guatemala - El Salvador	11: 0 1: 1 4: 1		country	Gates	Pt
			1.	Guatemala	15: 1	6th
			2.	El Salvador	2: 5	1
			3.	Honduras	1:12	1

for 3rd place
07/25/1998	Costa Rica *	-	El Salvador	5: 1
final
07/25/1998	Guatemala *	-	Haiti *	1-0

Caribbean zone , qualification in Macoya (Trinidad)

	Trinidad and Tobago	-	Guyana	9-0
	Guyana	-	Trinidad and Tobago *	1: 7

CONCACAF finals , tournament in Canada

Group A

08/28/98 08/28/98 08/30/98 08/30/98 09/01/98 09/01/98	Canada - Puerto Rico Guatemala - Martinique Puerto Rico - Guatemala Canada - Martinique Puerto Rico - Martinique Canada - Guatemala	21: 0 2: 0 0: 8 14: 0 0: 9 4: 0		country	Gates	Pt
			1.	Canada	39: 0	9
			2.	Guatemala	10: 4	6th
			3.	Martinique	9:16	3
			4th	Puerto Rico	0:38	0

Group B

08/29/98 08/29/98 08/31/98 08/31/98 09/02/98 09/02/98	Trinidad and Tobago - Haiti Mexico - Costa Rica Haiti - Mexico Costa Rica - Trinidad and Tobago Costa Rica - Haiti Trinidad and Tobago - Mexico	2: 1 3: 2 1: 7 3: 1 2: 1 2: 2		country	Gates	Pt
			1.	Mexico	12: 5	7th
			2.	Costa Rica	7: 5	6th
			3.	Trinidad and Tobago	5: 6	4th
			4th	Haiti	3:11	0

Semifinals
09/04/1998	Guatemala	-	Mexico	0: 8
09/04/1998	Canada	-	Costa Rica	2-0
3rd place match
09/06/1998	Costa Rica	-	Guatemala	4-0
final
09/06/1998	Canada **	-	Mexico *	1-0

CONCACAF / CONMEBOL playoff

12/14/1998	Mexico	-	Argentina	3: 1
December 19, 1998	Argentina	-	Mexico **	2: 3

Asian Zone / AFC

The Asian championship in women's football also served as World Cup qualification.

Eleven teams took part, the game was played in two groups of four and one group of three. The three group winners plus the best runners-up came into the semifinals. The two finalists and the third Asian qualified for the 1999 World Cup in the USA.

All games were played as a tournament in China.

Group A

05.12.97 05.12.97 07.12.97 07.12.97 09.12.97 09.12.97	India - Hong Kong Japan - Guam Hong Kong - Guam Japan - India Japan - Hong Kong India - Guam	3: 0 21: 0 1: 0 1: 0 9: 0 10: 0		country	Gates	Pt
			1.	Japan *	31: 0	9
			2.	India	13: 1	6th
			3.	Hong Kong	1:12	3
			4th	Guam	0:32	0

Group B

05.12.97 05.12.97 07.12.97 07.12.97 09.12.97 09.12.97	China - North Korea Uzbekistan - Philippines China - Uzbekistan North Korea - Philippines China - Philippines North Korea - Uzbekistan	3: 1 2: 1 8: 0 14: 1 16: 0 8: 0		country	Gates	Pt
			1.	People's Republic of China *	27: 1	9
			2.	North Korea *	23: 4	6th
			3.	Uzbekistan	2:17	3
			4th	Philippines	2:32	0

Group C

05.12.97 07.12.97 09.12.97	Taiwan - South Korea South Korea - Kazakhstan Taiwan - Kazakhstan	1-0 11-0 6-0		country	Gates	Pt
			1.	Chinese Taipei *	7-0	6th
			2.	South Korea	11: 1	3
			3.	Kazakhstan	0:17	0

Semifinals
12/12/1997	North Korea	-	Japan	1-0
12/12/1997	People's Republic of China	-	Chinese Taipei	10-0
3rd place match
12/14/1997	Japan **	-	Chinese Taipei	2-0
final
12/14/1997	People's Republic of China **	-	North Korea **	2-0

African Zone / CAF

At a tournament in Nigeria from October 17 to 30, 1998, 15 African teams determined the African champion and at the same time the representatives of Africa at the 1999 Women's World Cup. With Namibia, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Mozambique, a total of four of the fifteen nations took part in the course of the tournament.

First round

Egypt	-	Uganda	1: 1
Uganda	-	Egypt	0: 1
Democratic Republic of Congo	-	Namibia	withdrawn
Morocco	-	Kenya	withdrawn
Mozambique	-	Lesotho	1-0
Lesotho	-	Mozambique	2: 4
South Africa	-	Swaziland	9-0
Swaziland	-	South Africa	0: 6
Cameroon	-	Sierra Leone	withdrawn
Ghana	-	Guinea	11: 0
Guinea	-	Ghana	0: 8
Nigeria	-		bye

Group A

10/17/98 10/17/98 10/20/98 10/20/98 10/23/98 10/23/98	Nigeria - Morocco Democratic Republic of the Congo - Egypt Morocco - Egypt Nigeria - Democratic Republic of the Congo Morocco - Democratic Republic of the Congo Nigeria - Egypt	8: 0 4: 1 4: 1 6: 0 0: 0 6: 0		country	Gates	Pt
			1.	Nigeria *	20: 0	9
			2.	Democratic Republic of the Congo *	4: 7	4th
			3.	Morocco	4: 9	4th
			4th	Egypt	2:14	0

Group B

10/18/98 10/21/98 10/24/98	Ghana - South Africa Cameroon - South Africa Ghana - Cameroon   Mozambique withdrawn	4: 0 3: 2 3: 1		country	Gates	Pt
			1.	Ghana *	7: 1	6th
			2.	Cameroon *	4: 5	3
			3.	South Africa	2: 7	0
			4th	Mozambique

Semifinals
10/27/1998	Nigeria	-	Cameroon	6-0
10/27/1998	Ghana	-	Democratic Republic of Congo	4: 1 nV
3rd place match
10/30/1998	Democratic Republic of Congo	-	Cameroon	3: 3, 3: 1 iE
final
10/31/1998	Nigeria **	-	Ghana **	2-0

Oceanic Zone / OFC

Six oceanic teams determined the Oceania champion and also the representative of Oceania at the 1999 World Cup in the USA in a tournament in Auckland ( New Zealand ) between October 9th and 17th .

Group A

10/09/98 10/11/98 10/13/98	New Zealand - Western Samoa New Zealand - Fiji Fiji - Western Samoa	21: 0 14: 0 5: 0		country	Gates	Pt
			1.	New Zealand *	35-0	6th
			2.	Fiji *	5:14	3
			3.	Samoa	0:26	0

Group B

10/09/98 10/11/98 10/13/98	Australia - American Samoa Australia - New Guinea New Guinea - American Samoa	21: 0 8: 0 9: 0		country	Gates	Pt
			1.	Australia *	29: 0	6th
			2.	Papua New Guinea *	9: 8	3
			3.	American Samoa	0:30	0

Semifinals
10/15/1998	New Zealand	-	Papua New Guinea	5-0
10/15/1998	Australia	-	Fiji	17: 0
3rd place match
10/17/1998	Papua New Guinea	-	Fiji	7: 1
final
10/17/1998	New Zealand	-	Australia **	1: 3

Web links

• http://www.rsssf.com/tablesw/wwc99f.html