Tourney Name: | 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup Qualification |
Dates: | 9 September 1989 - 14 July 1991 |
Num Teams: | 48 |
Confederations: | 6 |
Matches: | 111 |
Goals: | 445 |
Nextseason: | 1995 |
The 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification process saw 48 teams from the six FIFA confederations compete for the 12 places in the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup finals. The places were divided as follows:
All of the confederations used their regional championship tournament to determine qualification. Hosts China PR 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, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, all of which are African teams.
width=50% valign="top" | width=50% valign="top" |
Confederation | Teams started | width=100 | Teams eliminated | Teams qualified | Qualifying start date | Qualifying end date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AFC | 92 | 6 | 3 | 26 May 1991 | 8 June 1991 | |
CAF | 8 | 7 | 1 | 16 February 1991 | 30 June 1991 | |
CONCACAF | 71 | 6 | 1 | 18 April 1991 | 28 April 1991 | |
CONMEBOL | 3 | 2 | 1 | 28 April 1991 | 5 May 1991 | |
OFC | 3 | 2 | 1 | 17 May 1991 | 25 May 1991 | |
UEFA | 18 | 13 | 5 | 9 September 1989 | 14 July 1991 | |
Total | 48 | 36 | 12 | 9 September 1989 | 14 July 1991 |
See main article: 1991 African Women's Championship. (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.
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, Nigeria qualified to the World Cup and won the tournament by defeating Cameroon 6–0 on aggregate.
Final Round|}
See main article: 1991 AFC Women's Championship. (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, China; runners-up, Japan; and third place, Chinese Taipei, qualified to the World Cup.
Knockout stageChina PR, Japan, and Chinese Taipei qualified for the World Cup.
See main article: UEFA Women's Euro 1991. (18 teams competing for 5 berths)
Qualified: – – – –
The first official edition of the UEFA Women's Championship served also as UEFA's qualifying tournament for the World Cup. Out of the 18 teams participating in the tournament, the qualifiers were the four semi-finalists—Denmark, Germany, Italy, and Norway—and the best quarter-final loser, Sweden, who lost their two-leg quarter-final clash against Italy on a single away goal.
The UEFA Women's Championship had held its own qualifying campaign. It began in September 1989, and ended with a final four–style tournament in Denmark, held in July 1991, only four months before the World Cup.
Germany won the tournament by beating Norway 3–1 in extra time.
Second round|}
Knockout stage
Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Sweden qualified for the World Cup.
See main article: 1991 CONCACAF Women's Championship. (7 teams competing for 1 berth) 5
Qualified:
The 1991 CONCACAF's Women's Championship, despite being an unofficial competition, determined the CONCACAF's single qualifier for the World Cup – the winner, the United States. The tournament took place in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in April 1991 and consisted of 8 teams.
Knockout Stage
United States qualified for the World Cup.
See main article: 1991 OFC Women's Championship. (3 teams competing for 1 berth)
Qualified:
Only three teams participated in the tournament which took place in Sydney, Australia in May 1991: Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. The teams played in a round-robin tournament 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 Australia and New Zealand ended with one win to each side, and both teams won all matches against Papua New Guinea.
Final standings
See main article: 1991 Sudamericano Femenino. (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 CONMEBOL's qualifier. The host of the tournament Brazil won the tournament and with it the right to represent South America in the World Cup.
Final standings
width=25 abbr="Position" | Pos | width=175 | Team | width=25 abbr="Played" | Pld | width=25 abbr="Won" | W | width=25 abbr="Drawn" | D | width=25 abbr="Lost" | L | width=25 abbr="Goals for" | GF | width=25 abbr="Goals against" | GA | width=25 abbr="Points" | GD | width=25 abbr="Points" | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | +10 | 4 | |||||||||||
2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 2 | |||||||||||
3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | -6 | 0 |
Brazil qualified for the World Cup.