FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
FIFA Women's World Cup qualification is the process a national women's association football team goes through to qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Qualifying tournaments are held within the six FIFA continental zones, and are organized by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides beforehand the number of berths awarded to each of the continental zones, based on the relative strength of the confederations' teams. The hosts of the World Cup receive an automatic berth in the finals. For the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cups, the number of finalists increased from 16 to 24. By 2023, the number will be 32.
Qualification berths by continent
The table below lists the numbers of berths allocated by FIFA for each continent in each tournament.Places in the intercontinental play-offs are indicated by fractional representations. Intercontinental play-offs are played as two home-and-away matches. The team that scores a greater aggregate number of goals qualifies for the World Cup. Away goals rule applies. If these rules fail to determine the winner, extra time and penalty shootouts are used.
A + or − respectively indicates the winners or losers of the intercontinental play-offs. "+H" denotes an additional spot for hosts.
| Continental zone | 1991 1 | 1995 | 1999 | 20032 | 2007 | 2011 | 2015 | 2019 | 2023  |
| Africa | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | |
| Asia | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2.5++ H | 2.5++H | 3 | 5 | 5 | ?+H |
| Oceania | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ?+H |
| Europe | 5 | 4+H | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4.5−+H | 8 | 8+H | |
| North and Central America and Caribbean | 1 | 2 | 1.5++H | 2.5− | 2.5− | 2.5+ | 3.5−+H | 3.5− | |
| South America | 1 | 1 | 1.5− | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2.5+ | 2.5+ | |
| Total | 12 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 24 | 24 | 32 |
- 1 In 1991, China PR hosted the tournament, but the location was determined after Asian qualifying had been completed.
- 2 Originally to be held in China PR, the tournament was moved to the United States. China retained its automatic qualifying status as original host.
Qualification competition entrants over time
| Continental zone | 1991 | 1995 | 1999 | 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2015 | 2019 | 2023 |
| Africa | 8 | 8 | 15 | 22 | 35 | 24 | 26 | 24 | |
| Asia | 9 | 4 | 11 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 20 | 24 | |
| Oceania | 3 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 11 | 11 |
| Europe | 18 | 30 | 161 | 161 | 251 | 41 | 46 | 46 | |
| North and Central America and Caribbean | 8 | 5 | 112 | 223 | 32 | 26 | 28 | 28 | |
| South America | 3 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Total | 49 | 55 | 69 | 98 | 129 | 126 | 134 | 143 | |
| Teams played | 45 | 52 | 66 | 84 | 109 | 119 | 130 | 104 | |
| Matches played | 111 | 135 | 152 | 195 | 263 | 355 | 406 | 392 | |
| Goals scored | 445 | 655 | 803 | 867 | 1,032 | 1,436 | 1,686 | 1,562 |
- 1 Only teams in European Class A could qualify for the Women's World Cup finals. Other sides could at best be promoted to Class A for subsequent tournament.
- 2 A second Guatemalan side also competed, but their matches are not included in the list.
- 3 The United States competed in the qualifying tournament.
First appearance in qualification by team
| WC | Europe | South America | North, Central America and Caribbean | Asia | Africa | Oceania | Total |
1991 | ' ' ' ' | 44 | |||||
1995 | ' | none | none | none | 21 | ||
1999 | none | ' ' | 24 | ||||
2003 | none | ' ' ' | ' ' | ' ' | ' ' ' | 21 | |
2007 | none | ' | ' | 28 | |||
2011 | none | ' | 21 | ||||
2015 | none | none | none | 11 | |||
2019 | none | none | 9 | ||||
2023 | none | none | - |