The final of the

1999 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national soccer teams. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from June 19 to July 10, 1999, at ...

was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

match that took place on July 10, 1999, to determine the winner of the

. The host

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

played to a scoreless draw following double

golden goal The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sud ...

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

. After that, the United States won the title 5–4 with a

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

victory. The match represented one of the most important events in the history of American athletics. It was played before over 90,000 fans. The well-known image of

Brandi Chastain Brandi Denise Chastain (born July 21, 1968) is an American retired soccer player, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold-medalist, coach, and sports broadcaster. She played for the United States national team from 1988 ...

celebrating the winning spot kick that was featured on the cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' became one of the defining images of women's athletics in the United States.

Finalists

The match featured two powerhouses of

women's association football Women's association football, more commonly known simply as women's football or women's soccer, is a team sport of association football when played by women only. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries and 176 national te ...

. The United States had won the first FIFA World Cup championship in China and the gold medal at the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. China had won the silver at the 1996 Olympics and had defeated the United States in the final of the 1999

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and ...

. The teams featured two of the superstars of women's soccer, strikers

Mia Hamm Mariel Margaret Hamm-Garciaparra (; born March 17, 1972) is an American retired professional soccer player, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. Hailed as a soccer icon, she played as a forward for the U ...

of the United States and Sun Wen of China. The United States was bidding to become the first team to win a world championship on home soil, something China had failed to do in 1991, as well as the first team to win multiple championships. China, meanwhile, was attempting to join the United States and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

as World Cup champions. China were the first

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

national team to reach the FIFA Women's World Cup Final. This was also the first Women's World Cup final not involving a European team.

Route to the final

The United States had qualified automatically as host nation. Accordingly, they elected to skip the 1998 CONCACAF Women's Championship, which served as the

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typese ...

qualifier. They would not fail to win a CONCACAF championship again until 2010. China had qualified by winning their sixth straight

AFC Women's Championship The AFC Women's Asian Cup (formerly known as the AFC Women's Championship) is a quadrennial competition in Women's association football, women's football for national teams which belong to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the oldest Co ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

. Once at the finals, the United States reached the knockout stage by easily winning Group A. After trailing 2–1 at halftime, they advanced through the quarterfinals by defeating

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

3–2. The United States then defeated

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

2–0 to reach the final. China reached the knockout stage by winning Group D. They shut out

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

in the quarterfinals, then easily defeated defending champion

5–0 to reach the final.

Match

Summary

The match was played on July 10, 1999, at the Rose Bowl in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. The United States and China played to a scoreless draw during regulation and golden goal extra time. The United States won the title 5–4 on a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

. The win gave the United States its second world cup title. The game was a tepid affair with neither side getting many chances. Perhaps the best chance for either team to score came in

, when China's

Fan Yunjie Fan Yunjie (; born April 29, 1972 in Zhengzhou, Henan) is a female Chinese football (soccer) player who competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics, in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and in the 2004 Summer Olympics. In 1996 she won the silver medal wi ...

hit a header toward the post that was defended by

Kristine Lilly Kristine Marie Lilly Heavey (; born July 22, 1971) is an American retired soccer player. She was a member of the United States women's national team for 23 years and is the most-capped football player in the history of the sport (men's or wome ...

. After both teams failed to score, the teams squared off for a shootout to decide the winners of the cup. China shot first, and

Xie Huilin Xie Huilin (; born January 17, 1975) is a female Chinese football (soccer) player who competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics and in the 2000 Summer Olympics. In 1996 she won the silver medal with the Chinese team. She played all five matches. ...

scored, only to be matched by the United States'

Carla Overbeck Carla Werden Overbeck (; born May 9, 1968) is a retired American soccer player and longtime member and captain of the United States women's national soccer team. She is currently an assistant coach of Duke Blue Devils, Duke University's women's s ...

. In the second round,

Qiu Haiyan Qiu Haiyan (born 17 June 1974) was a female Chinese former football midfielder. She was part of the China women's national football team at the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, and at the 2000 Summer Olympics, but did not play. References Biblio ...

's goal was matched by

Joy Fawcett Joy Lynn Fawcett (; February 8, 1968) is a retired American professional soccer player. She earned 241 caps with the United States women's national soccer team (WNT) and retired from the WNT in 2004 as the highest scoring defender for the U.S. W ...

. Liu Ying was China's third-round shooter, but her shot was saved by United States

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Briana Scurry Briana Collette Scurry (born September 7, 1971) is an American retired soccer goalkeeper, and assistant coach of the Washington Spirit . Scurry was the starting goalkeeper for the United States women's national soccer team at the 1995 World Cu ...

. Despite Scurry coming well off her line (a violation that should have resulted in a re-kick for Liu), the save stood. Kristine Lilly then got a shot past Chinese goalkeeper

Gao Hong Gao Hong (born 1964 in Luoyang, Henan) is a composer and performer of the Chinese pipa (pear-shaped lute). Gao has lived in the United States since 1994. She performs traditional and modern Chinese music, with her groups Spirit of Nature and ...

to give the United States the advantage.

Zhang Ouying Zhang Ouying (; November 2, 1975 – December 1, 2018) was a Chinese football (soccer) player who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics and in the 2004 Summer Olympics as well as the 1999, 2003, and 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup. She was a member ...

, and Sun Wen each converted their penalty opportunities, leaving the United States'

with a shot to win the tournament. She put the ball past Gao, leading to an ecstatic celebration by the Americans, who had clinched the title on home soil.

Details

Post-match

The United States became the first team to win two Women's World Cup titles. Brandi Chastain's celebration, which ended with her removing her jersey and revealing her

sports bra A sports bra is a bra that provides support to the breasts during physical exercise. Sturdier than typical bras, they minimize breast movement and alleviate discomfort. Many women wear sports bras to reduce pain and physical discomfort caused b ...

underneath, appeared on the covers of ''

'', ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', and various newspapers the following day. The celebration was criticized for being allegedly disrespectful, unfeminine, or inappropriate, but has endured as one of the most iconic moments in women's sports history. Chinese media protested Scurry's save on Liu Ying, accusing her of cheating for stepping ahead of the line before Liu kicked the ball; Scurry confirmed that she did intentionally step over the line, but stated that "everybody does it". The final and tournament as a whole created greater interest in women's soccer, particularly the United States team, and broke attendance and television records for women's sports. Its reported attendance of 90,185 set a new international record for a women's sporting event, although the unofficial 1971 Women's World Cup final at the

Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Mexico City. It is the official home of football clubs Club América and Cruz Azul as well as the Mexico national football team. The stadium sits at an altitude of above sea level. Wit ...

in Mexico City was seen by an estimated 110,000 people. This record was broken in 2022 when the second leg of the UEFA Women's Champions League quarterfinal between archrivals

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

drew 91,553 to

Camp Nou Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelo ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. The final averaged 17.9 million viewers and peaked at 40 million on U.S. broadcast television, which remained unsurpassed until the 2014 men's World Cup and the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Final The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Final was a women's soccer match that took place on 5 July 2015 at BC Place, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to determine the winner of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. It was played between Japan and the U ...

References

External links

#WorldCupAtHome , USA v China PR (USA 1999) Full match on Youtube
{{DEFAULTSORT:1999 Fifa Womens World Cup Final

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

FIFA Women's World Cup Finals Fifa Women's World Cup Final 1999 United States women's national soccer team matches China women's national football team matches Sports competitions in Pasadena, California

1999 in sports in California 20th century in Pasadena, California July 1999 sports events in the United States