Copyright (c) 2003 Fédération Internationale de Football Association
The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the tournament, held in the United States from 20 September to 12 October 2003.
Originally, on 26 October 2000, FIFA awarded hosting rights for the Women's World Cup to China; beating a bid by Australia, and was originally planned to run from 23 September to 11 October at venues in Shanghai, Wuhan, Chengdu, and Hangzhou. However, a severe outbreak of SARS in early 2003 affected Guangdong in southern China. Because of this, several sporting events in China were canceled or postponed in early April, including the official draw for the Women's World Cup, and FIFA launched a joint investigation with the World Health Organization into whether the outbreak would subside by the time of the tournament.
On 3 May 2003, FIFA announced that they would move the tournament to an alternate host country, which would be determined at a later date; the United States and Australia had expressed interest in hosting, while Brazil was floated as another potential host. FIFA also announced that the next Women's World Cup in 2007 would instead be awarded to China, and a payment of $1 million to the organizing committee would be made by FIFA to compensate for planning expenses. On 26 May 2003, FIFA announced the United States would host the tournament, ahead of the other formal bid submitted by Sweden.
The tournament format was unchanged from the 1999 edition, with the first round consisting of sixteen teams organized into four groups by the final draw. The round-robin group stage consisted of 24 matches in which each team played one match against the other three teams in their group. In the final, Germany defeated Sweden, 2-1 in extra time; with a golden goal scored in the 98th minute by substitute defender Nia Künzer, who headed in a shot from a free kick taken by Renate Lingor, to earn their first world championship and become the first country to win both the men's and women's tournament, as well as the first to win with a female manager. Germany would later retain their title in 2007, becoming the first team in history to successfully defend the Women's World Cup title.
