FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?
This is the 2007 Women’s World Cup of football. It’s held every four years, and it exists to determine the best women’s national football team in the world.
HOW DOES THE FINAL TOURNAMENT WORK?
This time, the final tournament is in China PR from MON 10 SEP 2007 to SUN 30 SEP 2007. 16 teams will play, drawn into four groups. They’ll play three matches each: once against each opponent in their group. So the top two teams in each group move through to the elimination phase. Then they eliminate one another until we’re down to the final match. [And the semifinal losers get to play in the third place match immediately before the final.] Here’s the match schedule for China 2007.
HOW DOES QUALIFYING WORK?
Of FIFA’s 205 member nations, 131 entered qualifying. But only 16 of them can play in China. They each played qualifying tournaments within their own regional confederations, each of which has been allocated a certain number of places.
HOW MANY PLACES DO THE CONFEDERATIONS HAVE?
Some of them have an integer number of places. There are also half integer numbers: the third team in the AFC had a playoff against the third team in CONCACAF.
HOW DOES UEFA QUALIFYING WORK?
UEFA qualifying was open to the 25 nations that were in the first division of European women’s football. These nations were split into five groups in the group phase. The winners of each group qualified.
HOW DOES AFC QUALIFYING WORK?
The AFC qualifying tournament was the 2006 Asian Women’s Cup in Adelaide, SA, Australia. Teams that did not automatically earn a place in the Asian Women’s Cup played a qualifying group phase, with 12 teams in four groups. The top two moved to the qualifying quarterfinals and played off against one another; the four winners reached the group phase of the Asian Women’s Cup. Two teams from each group advanced to the elimination phase. Here, the top two teams, not counting China PR, qualified, and the next best team played off against CONCACAF’s number three team.
HOW DOES CONCACAF QUALIFYING WORK?
The CONCACAF qualifying tournament was the 2006 Women’s Gold Cup. Twelve Caribbean nations played off in the preliminary round; the six winners advanced to join sixteen other teams in the first qualifying round. The six Central American teams played in two groups, from which the winners reached the Gold Cup. The Caribbean teams were in four groups, and the winners moved to the second qualifying round. Following a protest, two other teams were added to the second qualifying round, which became a two group affair. The group winners reached the Women’s Gold Cup, from which the finalists qualified and the third place winner entered the playoff against the third team in the AFC.
HOW DOES CONMEBOL QUALIFYING WORK?
The CONMEBOL qualifying tournament was the 2006 South American Women’s Championship in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The ten teams were in two groups for the first round, with two teams in each group advancing. In the final round, the four teams played in one group, and the top two qualified.
HOW DOES CAF QUALIFYING WORK?
The CAF qualifying tournament was the 2006 African Women’s Championship in Nigeria. Fourteen teams played off in pairs in the preliminary round. From here, the seven winners entered a series of playoffs in the qualifying round. The winners entered the group phase of the African Women’s Championship. Two teams from each group advanced to the elimination phase, and the finalists qualified.
HOW DOES OFC QUALIFYING WORK?
OFC qualifying was played in a single group phase. The winners of the four team group qualified.
WHAT IF THERE’S A TIE?
Ties in the group phase of the final tournament are resolved by the following tiebreakers:
If these tiebreakers aren’t enough, lots will be drawn at random.
WHEN ARE PLAYERS SUSPENDED?
A red card earns a player an automatic suspension for the next match. A player is also suspended for one match for every second yellow card accumulated. The list of accumulated yellow cards is erased at the end of the group phase.
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