# Football at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's qualification

Eight teams competed in the women's football tournament at the 2000 Summer Olympics. In addition to the host nation, Australia, seven other teams qualified for the tournament based on the results from the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup.

## Method

Unlike the men's competition, there was no fixed slot allocation for the women's tournament. Instead, the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup would be used as the preliminary competition to qualify teams for the women's Olympic football tournament, which featured eight teams. Australia automatically qualified for the tournament as hosts, with the remaining spots going to the top seven teams at the Women's World Cup, excluding Australia. FIFA set the following qualification procedure to determine the remaining seven teams:
* If Australia are one of the eight quarter-finalists, all eight will qualify for the Olympics.
* If Australia are not one of the eight quarter-finalists, the four quarter-final winners and the three best-ranked quarter-final losers will qualify for the Olympics.
To determine the best three quarter-final losers, FIFA set the following ranking criteria:
* Goal difference in the quarter-finals;
* Number of goals scored in the quarter-finals;
* Points obtained in all group matches (three points for a win, one for a draw, none for a defeat);
* Goal difference in all group matches;
* Number of goals scored in all group matches;
* FIFA Fair Play ranking;
* Drawing of lots.

## 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup
### Qualification

Sixteen teams qualified for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup in the United States based on a fixed slot allocation.
| Confederation | Slots | Tournament | Teams qualified |
| AFC (Asia) | 3 | 1997 AFC Women's Championship | China Japan North Korea |
| CAF (Africa) | 2 | 1998 African Women's Championship | Ghana Nigeria |
| CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) | 2.5 | Host country | United States |
| CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) | 2.5 | 1998 CONCACAF Women's Championship | Canada |
| CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) | 2.5 | CONCACAF v CONMEBOL play-off | Mexico |
| CONMEBOL (South America) | 1.5 | 1998 South American Women's Football Championship | Brazil |
| OFC (Oceania) | 1 | 1998 OFC Women's Championship | Australia |
| UEFA (Europe) | 6 | 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification (UEFA) | Denmark Germany Italy Norway Russia Sweden |

### Group stage

| Group A | Group B |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  United States (H) 3 9 2  Nigeria 3 6 3  North Korea 3 3 4  Denmark 3 0 Source: FIFA (H) Hosts | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Brazil 3 7 2  Germany 3 5 3  Italy 3 4 4  Mexico 3 0 Source: FIFA |
| Group C | Group D |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Norway 3 9 2  Russia 3 6 3  Canada 3 1 4  Japan 3 1 Source: FIFA | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  China 3 9 2  Sweden 3 6 3  Australia 3 1 4  Ghana 3 1 Source: FIFA |

### Knockout stage

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final |
| July 1 – Landover | July 1 – Landover | | | |
| United States | 3 | | | |
| United States | 3 | July 4 – Stanford | July 4 – Stanford | | |
| Germany | 2 | July 4 – Stanford | July 4 – Stanford | |
| Germany | 2 | United States | 2 | |
| July 1 – Landover | July 1 – Landover | | United States | 2 | |
| July 1 – Landover | July 1 – Landover | Brazil | 0 | |
| Brazil (g.g.) | 4 | Brazil | 0 | |
| Brazil (g.g.) | 4 | | | | July 10 – Pasadena | July 10 – Pasadena |
| Nigeria | 3 | | | | July 10 – Pasadena | July 10 – Pasadena |
| Nigeria | 3 | | | | United States (p) | 0 (5) |
| June 30 – San Jose | June 30 – San Jose | | | | | United States (p) | 0 (5) |
| June 30 – San Jose | June 30 – San Jose | | | | China | 0 (4) |
| Norway | 3 | | | | China | 0 (4) |
| Norway | 3 | July 4 – Foxborough | July 4 – Foxborough | | | |
| Sweden | 1 | July 4 – Foxborough | July 4 – Foxborough | | | |
| Sweden | 1 | Norway | 0 | | | |
| June 30 – San Jose | June 30 – San Jose | | Norway | 0 | | | |
| June 30 – San Jose | June 30 – San Jose | China | 5 | | Third place playoff | Third place playoff |
| China | 2 | China | 5 | | Third place playoff | Third place playoff |
| China | 2 | | | | July 10 – Pasadena | July 10 – Pasadena |
| Russia | 0 | | | | July 10 – Pasadena | July 10 – Pasadena |
| Russia | 0 | | | | Brazil (p) | 0 (5) |
| | | | | | Norway | 0 (4) |

## Quarter-final ranking

As Australia were eliminated in the group stage, the results of the quarter-finals were used to determine the seven teams which would qualify. Although Russia and Sweden both lost by two goals, the Swedes had scored in their defeat while Russia did not, leaving them as the only quarter-finalist to not qualify for the Olympics.
| Pos | Team | GF | GA | GD | Qualification |
| 1 | Norway | 3 | 1 | +2 | Qualify for 2000 Summer Olympics |
| 2 | China | 2 | 0 | +2 | Qualify for 2000 Summer Olympics |
| 3 | Brazil | 4 | 3 | +1 | Qualify for 2000 Summer Olympics |
| 4 | United States | 3 | 2 | +1 | Qualify for 2000 Summer Olympics |
| 5 | Nigeria | 3 | 4 | −1 | Qualify for 2000 Summer Olympics |
| 6 | Germany | 2 | 3 | −1 | Qualify for 2000 Summer Olympics |
| 7 | Sweden | 1 | 3 | −2 | Qualify for 2000 Summer Olympics |
| 8 | Russia | 0 | 2 | −2 | |

## Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympic women's football tournament:
| Team | Confederation | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in Summer Olympics |
| Australia | OFC | Host | 23 September 1993 | 0 (debut) |
| China | AFC | Women's World Cup runner-up | 30 June 1999 | 1 (1996) |
| Norway | UEFA | Women's World Cup fourth place | 30 June 1999 | 1 (1996) |
| Sweden | UEFA | 3rd best quarter-final loser | 30 June 1999 | 1 (1996) |
| Germany | UEFA | 2nd best quarter-final loser | 1 July 1999 | 1 (1996) |
| United States | CONCACAF | Women's World Cup winner | 1 July 1999 | 1 (1996) |
| Brazil | CONMEBOL | Women's World Cup third place | 1 July 1999 | 1 (1996) |
| Nigeria | CAF | 1st best quarter-final loser | 1 July 1999 | 0 (debut) |
* ↑ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

### Breakdown by confederation

| Confederation | Teams qualified |
| AFC | 1 |
| CAF | 1 |
| CONCACAF | 1 |
| CONMEBOL | 1 |
| OFC | 1 |
| UEFA | 3 |