2003 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification

Like the previous edition, the AFC Women's Championship served as the tournament qualification for AFC members. Fourteens competed in the competition which included the World Cup hosts in China. After the group stage which eliminated ten teams from qualifying, the semi-finals saw the first team in North Korea as they defeated Japan 3-0. After China won the second semi, the third-place play-off would see South Korea qualify with a 1-0 victory over Japan which meant Japan had to qualify via play-off against the third place team from CONCACAF (Mexico).

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
North Korea	4	3	1	0	45	2	+43	10
South Korea	4	3	1	0	20	2	+18	10
Thailand	4	2	0	2	6	21	−15	6
Hong Kong	4	1	0	3	2	24	−22	3
Singapore	4	0	0	4	0	24	−24	0

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Japan	4	4	0	0	34	0	+34	12
Myanmar	4	2	1	1	11	8	+3	7
Chinese Taipei	4	2	1	1	7	7	0	7
Philippines	4	1	0	3	2	26	−24	3
Guam	4	0	0	4	2	15	−13	0

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
China PR	3	3	0	0	29	0	+29	9
Vietnam	3	2	0	1	6	9	−3	6
India	3	1	0	2	7	14	−7	3
Uzbekistan	3	0	0	3	2	21	−19	0

Knockout stage (top two teams qualify for World Cup)

	Semifinals				Final
	19 June - Bangkok
	North Korea	3
					21 June - Bangkok
	Japan	0
					North Korea	2
	19 June - Bangkok
					China PR	1
	China PR	3
	South Korea	1
					Third place
					21 June - Bangkok
					Japan	0
					South Korea	1

Like the previous edition, the Africa Women's Championship served as the tournament qualification for CAF members.

• Qualifying stage: Qualifying for the 2002 edition took place between 10 August to 13 October 2002. 21 teams entered the qualification with seven teams getting the bye into the second-round. Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The seven winners of the second round qualified for the final tournament to join the hosts Nigeria who qualified automatically.
• Final tournament: Eight teams played in the 2002 African Women's Championship, which was held from 7 to 20 December 2002 in Nigeria. They were drawn into two groups of four teams. The top two teams of each group advanced to the knockout stage, where the winners of the semi-finals and the third place play-off qualified for the World Cup.

The seven winners of the second qualifying round advanced to the final tournament: Angola, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Ghana	3	3	0	0	6	0	+6	9	Knockout stage
Nigeria	3	2	0	1	8	2	+6	6
Mali	3	0	1	2	3	9	−6	1
Ethiopia	3	0	1	2	2	8	−6	1

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Africa	3	2	1	0	6	3	+3	7	Knockout stage
2	Cameroon	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
3	Angola	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	2
4	Zimbabwe	3	0	2	1	2	4	−2	2

Knockout stage (top two teams qualify for World Cup)

	Semifinals				Final
	17 December - Warri
	Ghana	3
					20 December - Warri
	Cameroon	2
					Ghana	0
	18 December - Warri
					Nigeria	2
	South Africa	0
	Nigeria	5
					Third place
					20 December - Warri
					Cameroon	3
					South Africa	0

Qualified:  Sweden --  Russia --  Germany --  Norway --  France

The 16 teams belonging to Class A of European women's football were drawn into four groups, from which the group winners qualify for the World Cup. The four runners-up were played in playoff-matches for the 5th berth.

Qualified:  United States --  Canada

The 2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup second-placed Canada qualified for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. The winner USA qualified as host. The third-placed Mexico played against Japan in two play-off matches for qualification.

Qualified:  Australia

The 2003 OFC Women's Championship determined the OFC's one qualifier for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup — the winner Australia.

Qualified:  Brazil --  Argentina

The fourth edition of the Sudamericano Femenino (Women's South American Championship) in 2003 determined the CONMEBOL's qualifiers Brazil and Argentina.