The knockout stage of the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup was the second and final stage of the competition, following the group stage. It began on 24 November with the quarter-finals and ended on 30 November 1991 with the final match, held at the Tianhe Stadium in Guangzhou. A total of eight teams (the top two teams from each group, along with the two best third-placed teams) advanced to the knockout stage to compete in a single-elimination style tournament. [1]
In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of 80 minutes of normal playing time, 20 minutes of extra time was played (two periods of 10 minutes each). If still tied after extra time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner.
The quarter-final match-ups depended on the two third-placed teams which qualified. FIFA set out the following schedule for the semi-finals: [2]
The third place play-off match-up was: [2]
The final match-up was: [2]
In the quarter-finals, all matches were played on 24 November 1991. The specific match-ups and schedule depended on which two third-placed teams qualified for the quarter-finals: [2]
Third-placed teams qualify from groups | Match 19 Tianhe 19:45 | Match 20 Jiangmen 19:45 | Match 21 Zhongshan 15:30 | Match 22 Foshan 19:45 | |||
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A | B | 1A v 3B | 2A v 1C | 3A v 1B | 2B v 2C | ||
A | C | 1A v 2B | 2A v 2C | 3A v 1C | 1B v 3C | ||
B | C | 1A v 3B | 2A v 1C | 1B v 3C | 2B v 2C |
The top two placed teams from each of the three groups, plus the two best-placed third teams, qualified for the knockout stage.
Group | Winners | Runners-up | Third-placed teams (Best two qualify) |
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A | China | Norway | Denmark |
B | United States | Sweden | — |
C | Germany | Italy | Chinese Taipei |
Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
24 November – Guangzhou (Tianhe) | ||||||||||
China | 0 | |||||||||
27 November – Guangzhou (Ying Tung) | ||||||||||
Sweden | 1 | |||||||||
Sweden | 1 | |||||||||
24 November – Jiangmen | ||||||||||
Norway | 4 | |||||||||
Norway (a.e.t.) | 3 | |||||||||
30 November – Guangzhou (Tianhe) | ||||||||||
Italy | 2 | |||||||||
Norway | 1 | |||||||||
24 November – Zhongshan | ||||||||||
United States | 2 | |||||||||
Denmark | 1 | |||||||||
27 November – Guangzhou (Provincial) | ||||||||||
Germany (a.e.t.) | 2 | |||||||||
Germany | 2 | |||||||||
24 November – Foshan | ||||||||||
United States | 5 | Third place play-off | ||||||||
United States | 7 | |||||||||
29 November – Guangzhou (Provincial) | ||||||||||
Chinese Taipei | 0 | |||||||||
Sweden | 4 | |||||||||
Germany | 0 | |||||||||
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United States | 7–0 | Chinese Taipei |
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Norway | 1–2 | United States |
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Norway [3] | United States [3] |
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Assistant referees: |
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 selected China as host nation as Guangdong had hosted a prototype world championship three years earlier, the 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament. Matches were played in the provincial capital, Guangzhou, as well as in Foshan, Jiangmen and Zhongshan. The competition was sponsored by Mars, Incorporated, maker of M&M's candy. With FIFA still reluctant to bestow their "World Cup" brand, the tournament was officially known as the 1st FIFA World Championship for Women's Football for the M&M's Cup.
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