Qualification for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup determines which 15 teams join

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 ...

, the hosts of the 2011 tournament, to play for the Women's World Cup. Europe has 5.5 qualifying berths (including the hosts), Asia 3 berths, North and Central America 2.5 berths, Africa 2 berths, South America 2 berths and Oceania 1 berth. The 16th spot was determined through a

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

match between the third-placed team in North/Central America and the winner of repechage play-offs in Europe.

Qualified teams

:1.The rankings are shown as of 18 March 2011, the latest published.

Africa

''(24 teams competing for 2 berths)'' As in the previous World Cup cycle the African Women's Championship will serve as the qualification tournament for the Women's World Cup. The tournament was scheduled to be held from 31 October to 14 November 2010 in South Africa. The two finalists will advance to the Women's World Cup finals in Germany. Eight teams will compete in the continental finals in South Africa, with qualification consisting of two rounds of knock-out home and away ties. The preliminary round was held in March 2010, with winners advancing to the first round of qualification, which was held in May and June 2010. The seven winners from this round, along with hosts South Africa, advanced to the continental finals. These finals will consist of two round-robin groups of four teams. The top two finishers in each group will advance to the two semi-finals, with each semi-final winner qualifying for the World Cup finals.

Final tournament

Knockout stage

Asia

: ''(17 teams competing for 3 berths)'' As in the previous World Cup cycle, the 2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup served as a qualifying tournament. The five leading AFC nations,

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

(the defending AFC women's champions),

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

, Japan, China and Australia were automatic qualifiers for the finals (held from 19–30 May 2010). They were joined by the winners of each of three qualification groups held in July 2009. A preliminary round of qualification held in April and May 2009 began the qualifiers for the 2011 finals. The final tournament was held in

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese pro ...

, China. The two finalists – Australia and North Korea – and the winner of the third place play-off – Japan – qualified for the Women's World Cup finals. For the first time in the history of FIFA Women's World Cup, China failed to qualify for the finals.

Final qualification

Knockout stage

Europe

: ''(41 teams competing for 4 or 5 berths, host nation Germany also qualifies)'' Forty-one teams from Europe were drawn into eight groups on 17 March 2009. These groups were played between August 2009 and August 2010. The group winners advanced to four home-and-away play-offs (held in September 2010), with the winners advancing to the World Cup finals. The four losing teams competed in repechage play-offs the following month to determine a team to play against the third-placed CONCACAF team for the 16th place in the finals. Unlike previous qualification tournaments, all UEFA member nations were eligible to qualify. In the past, only those nations in the top tier of European nations played in qualification groups.

Direct qualification play-offs

Repechage play-offs

Italy advanced to the UEFA-CONCACAF playoff.

North America, Central America and Caribbean

''(26 teams competing for 2 or 3 berths)'' As with the last World Cup, the

CONCACAF Women's Championship The CONCACAF W Championship (previously known as the CONCACAF Women's Championship, CONCACAF Women's Invitational Tournament, CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup and CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying) is a football competition organized by the Confede ...

served as the region's qualification tournament. The

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 territori ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

received byes to the tournament, where they were joined by three teams from the Caribbean zone and two from Central America. Both finalists qualified automatically to the 2011 Women's World Cup. The third placed team met the fifth placed team from UEFA for an additional World Cup berth. The tournament was held in

Cancún Cancún ( ), often Cancun in English (without the accent; or ) is a city in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat ...

, from 28 October to 8 November 2010.

Women's Gold Cup

Knockout stage

Oceania

''(8 teams competing for 1 berth)'' As in the previous World Cup cycle, the 2010 OFC Women's Championship served as a qualifying tournament. The tournament was held in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, New Zealand, from 29 September to 8 October 2010. Teams played in two groups of four, followed by semi-finals and a final and third-place play-off. The winners, New Zealand, qualified for the Women's World Cup finals.

Final qualification

Knockout stage

South America

''(10 teams competing for 2 berths)'' As with previous World Cup qualifications, the

Sudamericano Femenino The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as U-20 South American Championship and es, Torneo Juventudes de América, "Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 20" or pt, Juventude da América (English: "America's Youth") is a South American a ...

was used to determine the qualification to the World Cup finals. Qualification was held between 4 and 21 November in Ecuador.Sudamericano Femenino Ecuador 2010: nueva fecha de disputa
from www.conmebol.com, retrieved 11 October 2010.

Final positions

UEFA–CONCACAF play-off

The winner of the third-place play-off at the

2010 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup The 2010 CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying was the sixth edition of the CONCACAF W Championship, the quadrennial international women's football championship contested by the senior women's national teams of the member associations of CONCAC ...

will play-off against the winner of the repechage play-offs from the UEFA qualification tournament.

References

{{FIFA Women's World Cup

Qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

FIFA Women's World Cup qualification