The 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification process saw 48 teams from the six

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

confederations compete for the 12 places in the

1991 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup was the first FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national football teams. It took place in Guangdong, China from 16 to 30 November 1991. FIFA, football's international governing body sele ...

finals. The places were divided as follows: *

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

- represented by CAF: 1 berth *

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

- AFC: 3 (one of those was eventual host

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, who did not qualify automatically) *

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

: 5 *

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

& the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

: 1 *

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

- OFC: 1 *

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...

: 1 All of the confederations used their regional championship tournament to determine qualification. Hosts

China PR China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the e ...

also entered the qualifying process. The first qualification match was played on 9 September 1989 and the qualification concluded on 14 July 1991. A total of 445 goals were scored in the 111 qualifying matches (an average of 4.01 per match). Four teams withdrew during the qualification without playing a match: Congo,

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

, and

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, all of which are African teams.

Qualified teams

Qualification process

*¹ 8 nations started, but Martinique were not eligible for World Cup qualification, because they are only members of CONCACAF and not FIFA. *² China was selected as host after it qualified to the tournament

Confederation qualification processes

Africa (CAF)

''(8 teams competing for 1 berth)'' ::''Qualified:'' The only African team to qualify to the World Cup was the winner of the 1991 African Women's Championship,

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. The eight teams were paired together into two knockout ties. The winners of these ties advanced to the second round, who used the same format as the first round. The final round is a two-leg final between the two winners of the second round. The winner,

qualified to the World Cup and won the tournament by defeating

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

6–0 on aggregate. Final Round

Asia (AFC)

''(9 teams competing for 3 berths)'' ::''Qualified'': – – The 1991 AFC Women's Championship, consisting of nine teams, served as the AFC's qualifying tournament. The first round was composed of two groups, one of four teams and the other of five. The top two teams of the groups advanced to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, the winners advanced to the final and the losers played the third-place match. The winner,

; runners-up,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

; and third place,

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

, qualified to the World Cup. Knockout stage ''China PR, Japan, and Chinese Taipei qualified for the World Cup.''

Europe (UEFA)

''(18 teams competing for 5 berths)'' ::''Qualified:'' – – – – The first official edition of the

UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years and one year after the men's UEFA European Championship first held in 1984, is the main competition in women's association football between nationa ...

served also as

's qualifying tournament for the World Cup. Out of the 18 teams participating in the tournament, the qualifiers were the four semi-finalists—

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

—and the best quarter-final loser,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, who lost their two-leg quarter-final clash against Italy on a single

away goal Away may refer to: Film and television *Away (2016 film), ''Away'' (2016 film), a British film directed by David Blair *Away (2019 film), ''Away'' (2019 film), a Latvian animated silent film by Gints Zilbalodis * Away (2025 film), a drama film by ...

. The UEFA Women's Championship had held its own qualifying campaign. It began in September 1989, and ended with a

final four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

–style tournament in

, held in July 1991, only four months before the World Cup.

won the tournament by beating

3–1 in

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play 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 only if the game is required t ...

. Second round *³ Italy won based on the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

and qualified; Sweden qualified for being the best quarter-final loser. Knockout stage ''Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Sweden qualified for the World Cup.''

North, Central America & the Caribbean (CONCACAF)

''(7 teams competing for 1 berth)'' ⁵ ::''Qualified:'' The 1991 CONCACAF's Women's Championship, despite being an unofficial competition, determined the

's single qualifier for the World Cup – the winner, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The tournament took place in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

in April 1991 and consisted of 8 teams. Knockout Stage *⁵Martinique were not members of FIFA ''United States qualified for the World Cup.''

Oceania (OFC)

''(3 teams competing for 1 berth)'' ::''Qualified:'' Only three teams participated in the tournament which took place in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in May 1991:

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. The teams played in a

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & ...

in which each team played 2 matches against each opponent, with the first placed team qualifying. The competition was eventually decided through goal-difference, as the matches between

and

ended with one win to each side, and both teams won all matches against

. Final standings

South America (CONMEBOL)

''(3 teams competing for 1 berth)'' ::''Qualified:'' The first edition of the Sudamericano Femenino (Women's South American Championship), held in April–May 1991 determined

's qualifier. The host of the tournament

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

won the tournament and with it the right to represent South America in the World Cup. Final standings ''Brazil qualified for the World Cup.''

External links

Tables & results
at RSSSF.com {{FIFA Women's World Cup

Qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

FIFA Women's World Cup qualification