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1991 FIFA Women's World Cup
1st FIFA World Championship for Women's Football for the M&Ms Cup; 1991
	; Official logo;
Tournament details
Host country	China
Dates	16–30 November
Teams	12 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s)	6 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	; United States (1st title);
Runners-up	; Norway;
Third place	; Sweden;
Fourth place	; Germany;
Tournament statistics
Matches played	26
Goals scored	99 (3.81 per match)
Attendance	510,000 (19,615 per match)
Top scorer(s)	; Michelle Akers-Stahl ; (10 goals)
Best player(s)	; Carin Jennings;
	; 1995 →

The 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup was the inaugural FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national association football teams.^[1]^[2] It took place in Guangdong, China from 16 to 30 November 1991. FIFA, football's international governing body selected China as host nation as Guangdong had hosted a prototype world championship three years earlier, the 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament. Matches were played in the state capital, Guangzhou, as well as in Foshan, Jiangmen and Zhongshan. The competition was sponsored by Mars, Incorporated. With FIFA still reluctant to bestow their "World Cup" brand, the tournament was officially known as the 1st FIFA World Championship for Women's Football for the M&M's Cup.^[3]

It was won by the United States,^[4] whose captain April Heinrichs formed a forward line dubbed the "triple–edged sword" with Carin Jennings and Michelle Akers-Stahl. Jennings was named player of the tournament while Akers-Stahl's ten goals won the Golden Shoe.^[5] The United States beat Norway 2–1 in the final in front of a crowd of 65,000 people at Guangzhou's Tianhe Stadium.^[6] Total attendance was 510,000, an average per match of 19,615. In the opening match at the same stadium, Norway had been defeated 4–0 by hosts China. Chinese defender Ma Li scored the first goal in Women's World Cup history, while goalkeeper Zhong Honglian, also of China, posted the first official "clean sheet" in the tournament.

The 12 qualified teams were divided into three groups of four (A to C). The top two teams and the two best third-place finishers from the three groups advanced to the knockout round of eight teams.

Venues

Yuexiu, Guangzhou	Tianhe, Guangzhou	Panyu, Guangzhou
Guangdong Provincial Stadium	Tianhe Stadium	Ying Tung Stadium
Capacity: 25,000	Capacity: 60,000	Capacity: 15,000

Guangdong,China Guangzhou Foshan Zhongshan Jiangmen
Foshan	Jiangmen	Zhongshan
New Plaza Stadium	Jiangmen Stadium	Zhongshan Stadium
Capacity: 14,000	Capacity: 13,000	Capacity: 12,000

Teams

Twelve teams qualified for the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup final tournament. Each of the six FIFA confederations had at least one representative.

Africa (CAF)
- Nigeria

Asia (AFC)
- China PR
- Japan
- Chinese Taipei

South America (CONMEBOL)
- Brazil

Oceania (OFC)
- New Zealand

Europe (UEFA)
- Denmark
- Germany
- Italy
- Norway
- Sweden

North America, Central America & Caribbean (CONCACAF)
- United States

Squads

For a list of the squads that disputed the final tournament, see 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup squads.

Match officials

For the first time in FIFA competition, six female officials were included. All functioned as assistant referees, except for Cláudia Vasconcelos who took charge of the third place play–off; becoming the first woman to referee a match sanctioned by FIFA.^[7]^[8]

Africa

Omer Yengo

Fethi Boucetta

Asia

Dai Yuguang

Haiseng Li

Jun Lu

Xuezhi Wang

Yu Jingyin

Zuo Xiudi

Raja Shrestha Gyanu

North, Central America and Caribbean

Rafael Rodriguez Medina

Maria Herrera Garcia

South America

Cláudia Vasconcelos

Salvador Imperatore

John Toro Rendón

Europe

Gertrud Regus

Vassilios Nikakis

Jim McCluskey

Ingrid Jonsson

Vadim Zhuk

Oceania

Linda May Black

Tournament review

FIFA's technical report demonstrates that, after the tournament, players and officials were undecided whether to persist with 80 minute matches, or to change to 90 minutes in line with men's football. Opinion was also divided about the suitability of using a size five football. Some teams reported difficulty in sourcing good quality equipment in the correct size.^[9]

The tournament was considered a major success in the quality of play and attendances at the games. FIFA president João Havelange wrote that:^[10]

“

"As president of FIFA it was a special pleasure for me to watch these young ladies playing with such flair and such elegance, and according to the reports of the many media representatives present, making the game truly into a celebration ... women's football is now well and truly established."

”

The perceived success of the tournament was a significant factor in the subsequent inclusion of women's football in the 1996 Summer Olympics.^[11]Sue Lopez reported that although attendances were very high, many tickets were complimentary. The "novelty factor" of women from foreign lands playing football also encouraged local people to attend.^[12]

Group stage

Countries and result

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	China PR (H)	3	2	1	0	10	3	7	5
2	Norway	3	2	0	1	6	5	1	4
3	Denmark	3	1	1	1	6	4	2	3
4	New Zealand	3	0	0	3	1	11	−10	0

(H): Host.

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16 November 1991

20:45

China PR	4–0	Norway
Ma 22' Liu 45', 50' Sun Q. 75'	(Report)

Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou

Attendance: 65,000

Referee: Salvador Marcone (Chile)

17 November 1991