1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup

1999 FIFA Women's World Cup

The 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup was the third edition of the tournament. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from 19 June to 10 July 1999 at eight venues across the country. The final, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, was attended by 90,185 people, setting an international record for spectators at a women’s sporting event. The United States won the tournament by defeating China in a penalty shootout after a scoreless draw. The average attendance was 37,319 spectators per match and the total attendance was 1. 194 million, a record that stood until 2015.

About 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup in brief

Summary 1999 FIFA Women's World CupThe 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup was the third edition of the tournament. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from 19 June to 10 July 1999 at eight venues across the country. The final, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, was attended by 90,185 people, setting an international record for spectators at a women’s sporting event. The United States won the tournament by defeating China in a penalty shootout after a scoreless draw. The average attendance was 37,319 spectators per match and the total attendance was 1. 194 million, a record that stood until 2015. The tournament earned a profit of USD 4 million on its USD 30 million operating budget. A new professional league, the Women’s United Soccer Association, was established following the tournament, and played three seasons before folding because of financial difficulties. The U.S. also hosted the next World Cup in 2003, which was played in smaller venues and ended with the host team finishing in third place. With the exception of the semi-finals, the tournament’s 32 matches were organized into 15 doubleheaders, consisting of two matches played back-to-back in the same stadium. The first FIFA-organized women’s tournament was hosted by China in 1988 and was followed by the second World Cup four years later with greater media attention but played in front of smaller crowds averaging under 4,500. The FIFA Executive Committee officially awarded hosting rights to the United states on 31 May 1996, the same day that the 2002 men’s world Cup was jointly awarded to Japan and South Korea.

Following the success of the inaugural women’s soccer tournament, the 1996 Summer Olympics had high attendances and culminated in 76,489 watching the gold medal match in Washington, D. C. The opening match would be played at East Rutherford Giants Stadium near New York City, New Jersey, which reprised its role from the 1984 Summer Olympics gold medal and the 1994 men’s final match in Pasadena. In 1997, the organizing committee chose to use larger stadiums and received 15 bids in eight venues and host cities, including five large American football venues were used in the 1994 World Cup. At FIFA’s request, theournament’s organizers had originally planned to use five smaller college football venues on the East Coast located in a single time zone. The tournament was awarded the final to the Rose bowl in Pasadena,. which reprise its role of playing host to the men’s gold medal game in the 1984 Olympics. In 1996, following the successful 1996 Olympics women’s event, the organising committee decided to use a larger American football venue instead of the small college football venue used in 1994. In 1998, FIFA announced that the tournament would be held in New York, with the opening match being played at New York’s Giants Stadium. In 1999, the organizers chose to hold the tournament in East Rutherford, New York and the final match at RFK Memorial Stadium near Washington, C.E.C.  The tournament was the first to field sixteen teams, an increase from the twelve in 1995, and featured an all-female roster of referees and match officials.