Group A of the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was one of four groups of nations, consisting of Nigeria, North Korea, Sweden and the United States. It began on September 20 and ended on September 28. Defending champions and host United States topped the group with a 100% record, joined in the second round by Sweden, who overcame their defeat in the first game to qualify for the knockout stage.
Three of these teams had also been also drawn together in Group A of the previous World Cup in 1999 (the exception was Sweden, whose place was taken by fellow Scandinavians Denmark). The four teams were then drawn together in Group B at the 2007 World Cup.
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
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1 | United States (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | +10 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
2 | Sweden | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 6 | |
3 | North Korea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 | |
4 | Nigeria | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | −11 | 0 |
Nigeria | 0–3 | North Korea |
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United States | 3–1 | Sweden |
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Sweden | 1–0 | North Korea |
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The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial championship of women's national soccer teams organized by FIFA. It was held in the United States from September 20 to October 12, 2003, at six venues in six cities across the country. The tournament was won by Germany, who became the first country to win both the men's and women's World Cup.
The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but the outbreak of SARS in that country forced that event to be moved to the United States. FIFA immediately granted the 2007 event to China, which meant that no new host nation was chosen competitively until the voting was held for the 2011 Women's World Cup.
The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in October 2007. Japan won the final against the United States on a penalty shoot-out following a 2–2 draw after extra time and became the first Asian team to win a senior FIFA World Cup.
The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the first time and by a North American country for the third time. Matches were played in six cities across Canada in five time zones. The tournament began on 6 June 2015, and finished with the final on 5 July 2015 with a United States victory over Japan.
The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's football championship contested by 24 women's national teams representing member associations of FIFA. It took place between 7 June and 7 July 2019, with 52 matches staged in nine cities in France, which was awarded the right to host the event in March 2015, the first time the country hosted the tournament. The tournament was the first Women's World Cup to use the video assistant referee (VAR) system. This was the second and last edition with 24 teams before expanding to 32 teams for the 2023 tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
Group B of the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was one of four groups of nations, consisting of Brazil, France, Norway and South Korea. It began on September 20 and ended on September 27. Rising power Brazil topped the group, comfortably beating South Korea and Norway by large margins and were denied a 100% record by Marinette Pichon's last minute equalizer against France. Brazil were joined in the second round by Norway, who won their other two games against France and South Korea, both which were making their debut at the World Cup.
Group C of the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was one of four groups of nations, consisting of Argentina, Canada, Germany and Japan. It began on September 20 and its last matches were played on September 27. Most matches were played at the Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus. Germany won every match, while Argentina failed to win a match. Despite beating Argentina 6–0, Japan failed to advance, while a young Canada team surprisingly made the second round.
Group D of the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was one of four groups of nations, consisting of Australia, China PR, Ghana and Russia. It began on September 21 and ended on September 28. Most matches were played at The Home Depot Center in Carson, save the last two that were played at PGE Park in Portland. China PR topped the group despite their lackluster performances, followed to the next round by Russia. Australia and Ghana didn't make the second round.
The knockout stage of the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was the second and final stage of the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup in the United States. It began on October 1, 2003, and ended with the final at the Home Depot Center, Carson, California on October 12, 2003. Germany, China, Norway, Brazil, Canada, Russia, Sweden, and defending champions United States. Canada, Germany, Sweden and the United States made it to the semi-finals. Sweden beat Canada 2–1 to reach the final, while Germany overcame the host country 3–0. The United States beat its neighbors for third place, and Germany beat Sweden 2–1 in the final in extra time.
The Australia women's national soccer team has represented Australia at the FIFA Women's World Cup on eight occasions in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023. Australia co-hosted the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup with New Zealand. The Matildas automatically qualified as co-host, and the Matildas finished fourth overall.
England have participated six times at the FIFA Women's World Cup: in 1995, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2023. They have reached the quarter-finals in each of their participation and the semi-finals three times, reaching the final in 2023.
The United States women's national soccer team is the most successful women's national team in the history of the Women's World Cup, having won four titles, earning second-place once and third-place finishes three times. The United States is one of five countries including Germany, Japan, Norway, and Spain to win a FIFA Women's World Cup.. The United States was also the only team that played the maximum number of matches possible in every tournament until they got eliminated in the round of 16 in 2023.
The Japan women's national football team has represented Japan at the FIFA Women's World Cup on nine occasions in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023.
The Nigeria women's national football team has represented Nigeria at the FIFA Women's World Cup at all nine stagings of the tournament, one of seven teams to do so. Despite the rich history, however, Nigeria's successes have been rather modest, having only progressed to the knockout phase in three occasions.
The Germany women's national football team has represented Germany at the FIFA Women's World Cup on nine occasions in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023. They have won the title twice and were runners-up once. They also reached the fourth place in 1991 and in 2015.
The China women's national football team has represented China at the FIFA Women's World Cup on eight occasions in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015, 2019 and 2023, finishing as runners up once (1999) and once in fourth place (1995). Alongside Japan and Australia, they became one of the only three Asian Football Confederation teams to finish on the top four of the FIFA Women's World Cup.
The Brazil women's national football team has represented Brazil at the FIFA Women's World Cup on all ten occasions to date. As the most successful women's national football team in South America, Brazil is also the best-performing South American team at the FIFA Women's World Cup, reaching two podium finishes. Brazil will host the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup.
The Sweden women's national football team has represented Sweden at the FIFA Women's World Cup on nine occasions in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023. There were runners up once and four times bronze medalists: in 1991, in 2011, in 2019 and in 2023.
The Canada women's national soccer team has represented Canada at eight of the nine staging's of the FIFA Women's World Cup. The inaugural tournament in 1991 is currently the only edition for which they failed to qualify.
The Argentina women's national football team has represented Argentina at the FIFA Women's World Cup at four stagings of the tournament, in 2003, 2007, 2019 and 2023.