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.Emblem for World Cup 2007 Launched, from china.org.cn, retrieved 7 July 2006 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 tournament opened with a record-breaking match in Shanghai, as Germany beat Argentina 11–0 to register the biggest win and the highest scoring match in Women's World Cup history, records which stood until 2019. The tournament ended with Germany defeating Brazil 2–0 in the final, without conceding a single goal in the entire tournament. The Germans became the first national team in FIFA Women's World Cup history to retain their title.
The golden goal rule for extra time in knockout matches was eliminated by FIFA, although no matches went to extra time (and therefore, none required a penalty shoot-out).
Teams
The qualified teams, listed by region, with numbers in parentheses indicating final positions in the FIFA Women's World Ranking before the tournament were: Africa (CAF) (24) (47)
Asia (AFC) (11) (host nation – automatically qualified) (15) (5) (10) (defeated Mexico in AFC–CONCACAF playoffs)
North America, Central America & Caribbean (CONCACAF) (9) (1)Europe (UEFA) (4) (3) (2) (6) (12)
Oceania (OFC)
South America (CONMEBOL) (29) (8)
Venues
The venues selected to host the competition were:Soccer: China Set up LOC for Women's World Cup , from Xinhua News Agency, retrieved 25 September 2006
List of 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup venues Host city Stadium Tianjin Tianjin Olympic Centre 60,000 Wuhan Wuhan Sports Center 60,000 Hangzhou Huanglong Sports Center 51,000 Chengdu Chengdu Sports Centre 40,000 Shanghai Hongkou Football Stadium 33,000
Squads
Match officials FIFA's Refereeing Department selected 14 referees and 22 assistant referees from around the world to officiate the 32 games that made up the final tournament. Candidate referees for the tournament were placed under scrutiny from 2005 onwards and attended a series of training camps. Candidates refereeing standards were regularly monitored at various tournaments around the globe before a final list was prepared. This was followed by a training camp in the Canary Islands in January 2007 and a final period of preparation and training at the home of FIFA in Zürich in May. No referees were chosen from the Oceania Football Confederation at the finals. The original selection group was made up of 42 entrants, 6 of which failed fitness tests resulting in the final group of 36 being confirmed for China. The United States was the only country represented by two referees.
Unlike the men's tournaments, the quartets of match officials do not necessarily come from the same country or confederation. This selection system was explained by Sonia Denoncourt, the head of women's refereeing at FIFA's Refereeing Department, "We don't have as many referees among the women and we certainly don't want to sacrifice quality. What we are looking for above all is compatibility on the field of play and the closest possible language links in the team selected for each game. The most important thing for us is that the referees have a good performance in the match." A fourth official was chosen from those referees not officiating a game at that time.
The referees stayed together throughout the competition at their hotel base in Shanghai. From there they travelled to the various venues for their designated games, before returning to base camp to continue with their specialised training programmes. As well as fitness training, they attended regular theory sessions and reviewed previous matches to try to identify possible errors and improve their performance levels. A psychologist was also assigned to the group to help with their mental preparations ahead of games.
+ Referees Confederation Referee AFC Pannipar Kamnueng (Thailand) Niu Huijun (China PR) Tammy Ogston (Australia) Mayumi Oiwa (Japan) CONCACAF Jennifer Bennett (United States) Dianne Ferreira-James (Guyana) Kari Seitz (United States) CONMEBOL Adriana Correa (Colombia) UEFA Christine Beck (Germany) Dagmar Damková (Czech Republic) Gyöngyi Gaál (Hungary) Jenny Palmqvist (Sweden) Nicole Petignat (Switzerland) + Fourth officials Confederation Referee CONMEBOL Estela Álvarez (Argentina)
+ Assistant referees Confederation Assistant referee AFC Fu Hongjue (China PR) Sarah Ho (Australia) Airlie Keen (Australia) Kim Kyoung-min (South Korea) Liu Hongjuan (China PR) Liu Hsiu-mei (Chinese Taipei) Hisae Yoshizawa (Japan) CAF Tempa Ndah (Benin) Souad Oulhaj (Morocco) CONCACAF Cynette Jeffery (Guyana) Cindy Mohammed (Trinidad & Tobago) Rita Muñoz (Mexico) María Isabel Tovar (Mexico) CONMEBOL Rosa Canales (Ecuador) UEFA Susanne Borg (Sweden) Cristina Cini (Italy) Miriam Dräger (Germany) Corinne Lagrange (France) Irina Mirt (Romania) Hege Lanes Steinlund (Norway) María Luisa Villa Gutiérrez (Spain) Karine Vives Solana (France)
Draw The group draw took place on 22 April 2007 at the Guanggu Science and Technology Exhibition Centre in Wuhan after the completion of the qualifying rounds.
FIFA automatically seeded the host and defending champions, slotting China and Germany into Group D and Group A, respectively. The FIFA Women's World Ranking for March 2007 was used to determine the teams to occupy the other seeded positions, B1 and C1.FIFA Women's World Cup China 2007 on target. Retrieved on 16 September 2007. United States were ranked first, Germany second and Norway third,FIFA Women's World Ranking March 2007 Retrieved on 16 September 2007. so the United States and Norway were also seeded.
Also, no two teams from the same confederation could draw each other, except for those from UEFA, where a maximum of two teams from UEFA could be drawn into the same group. Group B quickly became dubbed the group of death since three of the top five teams in the world were drawn in this group – the USA (1st), Sweden (3rd) and North Korea (5th), according to the June 2007 FIFA Women's World Rankings, the last to be released before the tournament. The same four teams were drawn together in Group A in the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, on that occasion the US and Sweden progressed to the knockout stages.
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Pot X (D1) (A1)
Group stage
All times are local (UTC+8).
Tie-breaking criteria for group playThe ranking of teams in the group stage was determined as follows:
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; Points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question; Goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question; Number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question; Fair play criteria based on yellow and red cards received; Drawing of lots.
Group A
Group B
The four teams were also paired in the same group in 2003.
Group C
Group D
Knockout stage
Bracket
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Third place play-off
Final
Awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.Awards 2007 FIFA.com shortlisted ten goals for users to vote on as the Goal of the Tournament. The Most Entertaining Team award was also decided by a poll on FIFA.com.
Golden BallSilver BallBronze Ball Marta Birgit Prinz CristianeGolden ShoeSilver ShoeBronze Shoe Marta Abby Wambach Ragnhild Gulbrandsen7 goals, 5 assists6 goals, 1 assist6 goals, 0 assistsBest Goalkeeper Nadine AngererGoal of the Tournament Marta for 4–0 in Semi-finals vs United States (27 September)FIFA Fair Play AwardMost Entertaining Team
All-Star Team Goalkeepers Defenders Midfielders Forwards Nadine Angerer Bente Nordby Ariane Hingst Li Jie Ane Stangeland Kerstin Stegemann Daniela Formiga Kelly Smith Renate Lingor Ingvild Stensland Kristine Lilly Lisa De Vanna Marta Cristiane Birgit Prinz
Statistics
Goalscorers
Assists
Tournament ranking
Marketing
Sponsorships
Source:
FIFA partnersNational Supporters Adidas Coca-Cola Emirates Hyundai–Kia Sony Visa Du-Bang Insurance Tencent QQ
Coverage Numerous TV stations around the world provided coverage of the tournament. One notable example is the Chinese-language channel CCTV-5, which also broadcast over the internet via TVUnetworks.
Monetary rewards For the first time in FIFA Women's World Cup history, all teams received monetary bonuses according to the round they reached (all in USD):FIFA Women's World Cup China 2007 on target. Retrieved on 18 October 2006. Champions: $1,000,000 Runners-up: $800,000 Third place: $650,000 Fourth place: $550,000 Quarter-finalists: $300,000 First round exit: $200,000
Other rewards UEFA used the FIFA Women's World Cup as its qualifying tournament for the 2008 Olympic women's tournament. The best three performing UEFA teams would qualify for the Olympics. Originally it was thought that, should England make the top three European teams, they would compete under the United Kingdom banner. However, on 6 September 2007, FIFA issued a press release indicating that England were ineligible to participate in the 2008 Olympics as England does not have its own Olympic Committee. For the determination of the ranking only first through fourth place, quarterfinal elimination or group phase elimination counted. If there was a need to make a distinction between teams eliminated in the quarterfinal or between teams eliminated in the group phase these teams would meet in a play-off match. In no case would the points or goal difference count for teams eliminated before the semi-final.
Germany and Norway qualified for the Olympics at the World Cup, whereas Denmark and Sweden had to enter a play-off for the third Olympics spot. Sweden won both legs of the playoffs with a total of 7–3 on aggregate to qualify for the Olympics.
Controversies
Kenneth Heiner-Møller and Danish players accused the Chinese hosts of harassment and covert surveillance prior to China's first round match against Denmark. China's Swedish coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors and her assistant Pia Sundhage were unaware of the incidents and Heiner-Møller absolved them of any blame, although he refused to shake hands after the match.
Notes
References
External links FIFA Women's World Cup China 2007, FIFA.com FIFA Technical Report Photos: FIFA Women's World Cup China 2007 on Time.com