1999 FA Cup Final
The 1999 FA Cup Final was an association football match that took place on 22 May 1999 at the old Wembley Stadium in London to determine the winner of the 1998–99 FA Cup. It was contested between Manchester United and Newcastle United. Goals from Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes gave Manchester United a 2–0 win to claim their 10th FA Cup title. It was the second part of the treble of trophies Manchester United won during the 1998–99 season, which was completed four days later, when they won the Champions League.


1999 FA Cup Final
Manchester United faced Premier League opposition in every round of the competition except the fifth. Their semi-final against the cup holders, Arsenal, was the last in the history of the competition to go to a replay; after a 0–0 draw in the original match, Manchester United won the replay 2–1. In the other semi-final, Newcastle beat Tottenham Hotspur 2–0.


1999 FA Cup Final
As Manchester United had already qualified for the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League, England's place in the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup was given to Newcastle United as the runners-up. Manchester United did not defend their FA Cup title, choosing instead to participate in the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil, believing that it would help The Football Association's bid to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup (which was eventually awarded to the German Football Association). As winners of the FA Cup, Manchester United also played in the 1999 FA Charity Shield against Premier League runners-up Arsenal.


1999 FA Cup Final, Background
Manchester United went into the match as champions of England, having clinched the Premier League title in their final game the previous weekend after losing just three league games all season. They had also qualified for the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final against Bayern Munich, due to be played four days later on 26 May, and were unbeaten in their previous 31 matches in all competitions.


1999 FA Cup Final, Background
By contrast, Newcastle United had failed to win any of their final seven league matches; since their last win (against Derby County on 3 April), their only victory had come in the FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur. Newcastle finished 13th out of the 20 teams in the Premier League, and were knocked out of the Cup Winners' Cup in the first round and the League Cup in the fourth round.


1999 FA Cup Final, Background
It was Newcastle's second consecutive appearance in the FA Cup Final – having lost 2–0 to Arsenal in 1998 – and their 13th appearance overall. They had a 50 percent record in their previous 12 finals. Manchester United had a better record in their 14 previous final appearances, having won on a record nine occasions; the last two, in 1994 and 1996, had been part of doubles.


1999 FA Cup Final, Background
With victory in the 1999 final, Manchester United would become the first English club to win the Double on three occasions, and it would put them one win away from a continental treble of the league, the FA Cup and the European Cup, a feat no English team had ever managed before.


1999 FA Cup Final, Background
The two teams had previously met 128 times in all competitions; Manchester United had won 60 times, Newcastle United 37 times, and the remaining 31 matches had finished as draws. Only two of those meetings were in the FA Cup: the first took place in the 1908–09 semi-final, when Manchester United won 1–0 at Bramall Lane in Sheffield on the way to their first FA Cup title, and the second in the Fifth Round of the 1989–90 competition, when Manchester United won 3–2 at St James' Park before going on to win their seventh FA Cup. Manchester United also came out on top in their two league meetings in the 1998–99 season, winning 2–1 at St James' Park on 13 March after playing out a goalless draw at Old Trafford on 8 November.


1999 FA Cup Final, Background
This was the first FA Cup Final that would not be replayed in the event of a draw. Instead, the match would be decided on the day, first with a period of extra time then a penalty shoot-out if the scores were still level.


1999 FA Cup Final, Route to the final
As Premier League clubs, both Manchester United and Newcastle United entered the 1998–99 FA Cup in the Third Round Proper. Newcastle were drawn at home to First Division side Crystal Palace, and Manchester United at home to fellow Premier League side Middlesbrough, whose 3–2 win at Old Trafford in the league two weeks earlier would turn out to be Manchester United's last defeat all season. Despite the team's goalkeeper, Shay Given, being sent off within the first 15 minutes and then going 1–0 down, Newcastle came from behind to beat Crystal Palace in their tie, while Manchester United also overturned Middlesbrough's 1–0 lead to win 3–1.


1999 FA Cup Final, Route to the final
Manchester United's victory set up a Fourth Round tie at home to arch-rivals Liverpool, and Newcastle were paired with First Division Bradford City. Newcastle won 3–0 to book their place in the Fifth Round, while Manchester United again came from a goal down to beat Liverpool with two goals in the last two minutes of their tie.


1999 FA Cup Final, Route to the final
The Fifth Round saw Newcastle drawn at home to their first Premier League opposition of the tournament in Blackburn Rovers, whereas Manchester United were paired with their only non-Premier League opponents, Second Division side Fulham. A goal from Andy Cole saw Manchester United win 1–0 to progress to the Sixth Round, but Newcastle were held to a goalless draw by Blackburn, forcing a replay. Newcastle striker Louis Saha, on loan from Metz, scored the only goal of the replay, and they were through to the last eight.


1999 FA Cup Final, Route to the final
Home draws in the Sixth Round for both teams ensured that they had both been drawn at home in every round of the competition; Manchester United hosted Chelsea at Old Trafford and Newcastle hosted Everton at St James' Park. This time it was Newcastle who only needed one match to progress to the semi-finals, beating Everton 4–1 with goals from Temur Ketsbaia (2), Georgios Georgiadis and Alan Shearer.


1999 FA Cup Final, Route to the final
Meanwhile, Manchester United were unable to make their numerical advantage count against Chelsea after a bad tackle on Paul Scholes earned Roberto Di Matteo a second yellow card, Scholes himself was sent off for Manchester United. The match finished goalless and a replay followed three days later; Dwight Yorke scored in each half to give Manchester United a 2–0 win.


1999 FA Cup Final, Route to the final
As per tradition, the semi-finals were played at neutral venues; Manchester United took on rivals Arsenal at Villa Park in Birmingham, and Newcastle United played against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford. Both semi-finals went to extra-time, but only Newcastle were able to produce a result on the day; after referee Paul Durkin missed a handball by Nikos Dabizas that would have resulted in a Tottenham penalty in normal time, Shearer scored twice in the second half of extra time to send Newcastle to Wembley for the second year in a row.


1999 FA Cup Final, Route to the final
Manchester United's semi-final ended 0–0, although a goal from Roy Keane was ruled out for offside against Yorke, who was stood in the centre of the pitch not interfering with play, after Ryan Giggs had played the ball to himself in the build-up. After watching a replay of the incident, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson claimed the decision was "absolutely ridiculous".


1999 FA Cup Final, Route to the final
The replay (the last semi-final replay in the history of the FA Cup) is often included in lists of the greatest matches in the history of the tournament. David Beckham opened the scoring with a curving shot past Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman from 22 yards, but Dennis Bergkamp equalised halfway through the second half, his shot deflecting off the knee of Jaap Stam.


1999 FA Cup Final, Route to the final
Nicolas Anelka had the ball in the back of the net for Arsenal again shortly afterwards, and their players had already begun celebrating before anyone realised that the linesman had raised his flag for an offside against Anelka. Roy Keane then received a second booking and was sent off for a cynical foul on Marc Overmars, leaving Manchester United to play out the match with 10 men.


1999 FA Cup Final, Route to the final
The match was heading for extra time when Phil Neville made a "rash" challenge on Ray Parlour inside the penalty area; Bergkamp took the penalty, but Peter Schmeichel guessed the direction of his kick correctly and made the save.


1999 FA Cup Final, Route to the final
The first half of extra time passed without incident, before Patrick Vieira gave the ball away to Giggs at the start of the second; Giggs ran from just inside his own half, taking on four Arsenal defenders as he drove into the penalty area, then shot from a narrow angle over the head of Seaman into the roof of the Arsenal net. Manchester United hung on for the remaining 10 minutes to secure their place in the final.


1999 FA Cup Final, Pre-match, Team selection
Manchester United decided to rest several star players for the match so that they could be fit for the Champions League final against Bayern Munich four days later. Midfielders Roy Keane and Paul Scholes were suspended for that match, so they were paired in central midfield; their deputy for the match against Bayern Munich, Nicky Butt, was left out of the matchday squad entirely to guard him against injury.


1999 FA Cup Final, Pre-match, Team selection
Top scorer Dwight Yorke was dropped to the bench for a similar reason, while first-choice centre-back Jaap Stam was named among the substitutes to give him a chance to prove his fitness after an Achilles tendon injury. Denis Irwin missed the match due to suspension after being sent off against Liverpool in the Premier League on 5 May and was replaced in the starting line-up by Phil Neville. Several players, including Scholes, David Beckham and Gary Neville, were suffering from a flu virus in the lead-up to the game, and were still suffering the effects on matchday, but were all deemed fit enough to play. Henning Berg was injured, so Ronny Johnsen and David May started in defence.


1999 FA Cup Final, Pre-match, Team selection
For Newcastle United, the FA Cup final was their last game of the season, meaning that they were uninhibited in their squad selection for the match; however, manager Ruud Gullit's final team was unpredictable and the players were unsure as to who would be picked until the day of the game.


1999 FA Cup Final, Pre-match, Team selection
Goalkeeper Steve Harper recalled being unsure of whether it would be himself or Shay Given who would start in goal, midfielder Rob Lee said he had "resigned [himself] to not playing in the final", and right-back Warren Barton said he thought he was "in the team until the Wednesday"; Harper was ultimately selected in goal, while the right-back position was given to 20-year-old Andy Griffin, who had the job of marking Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs, having performed a similar role against Tottenham's David Ginola in the semi-final.


1999 FA Cup Final, Pre-match, Team selection
According to the BBC, the biggest selection dilemma for Gullit was whom to pick to play up front alongside captain Alan Shearer: Georgian Ketsbaia or Scottish forward Duncan Ferguson, who was due for an operation on a herniated groin two days later. Ketsbaia was selected to start, with Ferguson named as a substitute.


1999 FA Cup Final, Pre-match, Kits
Manchester United wore their first-choice kit of red shirts, white shorts and black socks for the final. Had Newcastle worn their traditional first-choice kit, there would have been a clash between the two sides' socks; however, Gullit requested that his players wear white socks with black trim rather than their usual black socks with white trim, citing the success of his former teams who had also worn white socks.


1999 FA Cup Final, Match, Summary, First half
Newcastle United kicked off the match, attacking from east to west, and fashioned the first chance after three minutes; Shearer's header to Nolberto Solano allowed the Peruvian to volley on target, but the strike was not clean and Manchester United goalkeeper Schmeichel gathered it at the second attempt.


1999 FA Cup Final, Match, Summary, First half
Meanwhile, tackles from Dietmar Hamann and Gary Speed on Scholes and Keane both produced injuries, but while Hamann was able to continue with a dead leg he sustained in the challenge (and picked up a yellow card for a late tackle on Phil Neville a couple of minutes later), Keane had hurt his left ankle and had to be substituted.


1999 FA Cup Final, Match, Summary, First half
Since the usual central midfield stand-in, Nicky Butt, was being rested for the Champions League final, Alex Ferguson chose to bring on forward Teddy Sheringham; he would play in attack alongside Cole, while Beckham would move into central midfield and Ole Gunnar Solskjær was moved from up front to the right wing.


1999 FA Cup Final, Match, Summary, First half
Ninety-six seconds later, Manchester United took the lead. From a free kick just inside their own half, Beckham passed to Scholes, who gave it back to David May; May passed forwards to Andy Cole, who turned away from Dabizas and Hamann before aiming a pass towards Giggs on the left wing, only to find Sheringham in the ball's path.


1999 FA Cup Final, Match, Summary, First half
Sheringham played the ball delicately past Lee, who had come in for a tackle, then through the legs of Speed to Scholes, who feinted to shoot, only to pass the ball back to Sheringham, who had continued his run into the penalty area, and his shot went through Harper's legs into the net for the opening goal. Further chances fell to Solskjær, Cole and Sheringham in the first half, but all were unable to convert their efforts. Newcastle's best chance of the half fell to Hamann, a powerfully hit long-range shot just being diverted away from goal by Schmeichel.


1999 FA Cup Final, Match, Summary, Second half
By half-time, Hamann's injury had left him barely able to walk and he told Gullit he could not continue in the match; the two got into an argument in which Gullit accused Hamann of lacking commitment before deciding to bring on Duncan Ferguson in Hamann's place. Eight minutes into the half, Manchester United scored a second goal. A long ball from Solskjær was chased by Ryan Giggs, but he was beaten to it by Dabizas, who attempted to clear. Solskjær beat Didier Domi to Dabizas' clearance and passed to Sheringham on the edge of the penalty area.


1999 FA Cup Final, Match, Summary, Second half
With his back to goal, Sheringham rolled the ball into the path of Scholes, who shot underneath Harper from 20 yards. Late in the game, Newcastle's Silvio Marić was one-on-one with Schmeichel but screwed his close-range shot wide of the Dane's right-hand post, and the game finished 2–0 to Manchester United.


1999 FA Cup Final, Post-match
Although Peter Schmeichel had taken over as captain after Roy Keane was substituted during the game, Keane led the Manchester United team up to the Royal Box to receive the FA Cup from Charles, Prince of Wales.


1999 FA Cup Final, Post-match
After the match, Alex Ferguson praised Teddy Sheringham for his immediate impact after being brought on to replace Keane, saying: "Teddy was magnificent. He has proved a point today. He was the key to victory." He also complimented David Beckham on his performance in central midfield after Keane's withdrawal: "Beckham took over Keane's role and was absolutely magnificent... People say that going to Barcelona without Roy Keane will be a major hurdle, but I don't think so now."


1999 FA Cup Final, Post-match
Ryan Giggs recognised the importance of scoring the first goal early in the game, saying: "It helped getting the early goal then the second. It was hard for Newcastle to get back into the game with the weather like that. After the quick goal we could relax and hit Newcastle on the break." Meanwhile, Newcastle manager Ruud Gullit was pleased with the effort his players had put in, but bemoaned their mistakes that allowed Manchester United an easy victory: "We were punished for our mistakes. The effort was right. The players worked hard and I can't ask for more, but every time we were on top we made a mistake and that cost us two goals. In the end we had to be thankful they did not get three, four or five."


1999 FA Cup Final, Post-match
Some of Newcastle's fans were less magnanimous in defeat than their manager, as police in Newcastle reported more than 50 arrests related to violent conduct in the city centre following the match. A crowd of about 500 people had to be dispersed through the use of batons, dogs and horses. Similar incidents had been reported after Newcastle's cup final defeat the year before, but Inspector Jerry Barker of Northumbria Police said the situation had been brought under control quicker this time.


1999 FA Cup Final, Post-match
Having claimed an unprecedented third Double in six seasons, Manchester United went on to beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in Barcelona four days later to claim the Treble, a feat never before achieved by an English club.


1999 FA Cup Final, Post-match
Their FA Cup triumph would also have qualified them for the 1999 FA Charity Shield and the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup, but their position as league winners meant that they had already qualified for the Charity Shield and the higher-tier Champions League; therefore, the other place in the Charity Shield went to league runners-up Arsenal, while the UEFA Cup place usually reserved for the cup winners went to Newcastle as cup runners-up.


1999 FA Cup Final, Post-match
Manchester United decided not to defend their FA Cup title the following season, having instead been invited to compete in the inaugural FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil. The Football Association (FA) encouraged the club to take part in the new tournament as they believed it would help their bid to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup.


1999 FA Cup Final, Post-match
Alex Ferguson initially suggested that The FA could allow his team a bye to a later round of the competition to help alleviate the fixture congestion that would arise from entering both competitions, but the FA suggested that Manchester United simply pull out of the FA Cup altogether, putting the club in what chairman Martin Edwards called a "no-win" situation. Edwards said: "We're going to get criticised whatever we do. If we don't go people will say that we are selfish and only looking after ourselves and not prepared to help the 2006 World Cup bid.


1999 FA Cup Final, Post-match
But we will also be criticised if we say we're not going to compete in the FA Cup." The offer was also criticised by Manchester United fans; Andy Walsh of the Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association said, "They've shown very little offer of help in the past when United have looked to ease their fixture congestion. This blinding conversion is all to do with the 2006 campaign."


1999 FA Cup Final, Post-match
The club ultimately accepted The FA's offer on 30 June, but they were given until the date of the draw for the Second Round on 28 October to finalise that decision. Their place in the Third Round was given to a "lucky loser", determined by drawing one team out of the 40 losers from the Second Round; that team was Darlington of the Third Division, who were drawn away to Aston Villa.


1999 FA Cup Final, Post-match
Manchester United were knocked out of the Club World Championship in the group stage after losing to hosts Vasco da Gama and drawing with Mexican club Necaxa, their only victory coming against Australian representatives South Melbourne. It later turned out that their FA Cup sacrifice was in vain, as FIFA suggested that their participation in the competition would have no bearing on the vote to host the 2006 World Cup, which was ultimately won by the German Football Association.


1999 FA Cup Final, Post-match
Of the 20 finals played between 1996 and 2015, this final was ranked 19th by The Daily Telegraph for failing to live up to the promise of the game's early action.


1999 FAI 1000
The 1999 FAI 1000 was an endurance race for V8 Supercars. The event was held on 14 November 1999 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia and was the thirteenth and final round of the 1999 Shell Championship Series. It was the first year that the traditional spring endurance race at Bathurst was part of the Australian Touring Car Championship.


1999 FAI 1000
The race was the third running of the "Australia 1000", first held after the organisational split over the Bathurst 1000 that occurred in 1997. 1999 was the 37th consecutive year in which a touring car endurance race was held at the Mount Panorama Circuit and the event was the 43rd race that traces its lineage back to the 1960 Armstrong 500 held at Phillip Island.


1999 FAI 1000, Entry list
57 cars entered the race, the first full field (55 cars or more) since 1990. Alongside the outright contenders, the "Privateers Cup" was contested by 28 Level 2 and 3 licence holders who competed in the sprint rounds of the 1999 season. 20 Ford Falcons (12 AUs and 8 ELs) and 37 Holden Commodores (15 VTs, 21 VSs and 1 VP) were entered in the event.


1999 FAI 1000, Entry list
Paul Dumbrell made history as the youngest race starter (since surpassed by Cameron Waters in 2011) at 17 years, 2 months and 14 days. Of the 114 drivers, only John Cleland came from outside Australia and New Zealand. Three-time 'Great Race' winner Dick Johnson made both his final Bathurst and championship start after 26 and 202 starts respectively.


1999 FAI 1000, Report
For the first time the Bathurst 1000 was a round of the Australian Touring Car Championship and drivers had to now focus not only on winning the biggest race of the year, but also had to take into consideration their championship standings. Pushing too hard for a win and ending in the wall could prove detrimental for the championship, especially with Bathurst being the last race.


1999 FAI 1000, Report
Craig Lowndes entered the race with a 54-point lead over Russell Ingall, 172 on Garth Tander, 226 on Glenn Seton and 250 on team-mate Mark Skaife, with 300 points on offer for the race winner. With Ingall and Larry Perkins not quite on pace and a rare mistake when Larry missed the call from his crew to pit in under an early safety car, along with a tyre puncture, Lowndes' 2nd place with Cameron McConville was more than enough to secure him his 3rd and final title, the Holden Racing Team staging a 2-3 formation finish.


1999 FAI 1000, Report
In 1998 Jason Bright crashed the #4 car in practice, and with great strategy and good driving won the race – but begun the 1999 edition in the same fashion as Bright once again crashed, this time at McPhillamy Park. However early in the race in the packed pitlane caused chaos under an early safety car, with Craig Baird dragging the pit boom for the #4 car down pitlane after a mistake from the team. Further technical problems during the race on ended any chance of them repeating their 1998 success.


1999 FAI 1000, Report
A record entry of 57 cars (one unlikely to be broken) had to be whittled down to the track maximum of 55 for the race, yet in the first half of the race the attrition from driver mistakes was still as prevalent as ever and the safety car received a lot of running. FAI Insurance had a $100,000 prize if the winner could break the 1991 race record, however thanks to a then-record 10 safety cars they got nowhere near it... FAI did give Mark Larkham a consolation $25,000 for getting pole position.


1999 FAI 1000, Report
Larkham broke not just the V8 track record but Neil Allen's 1970 pre-Chase record in qualifying that he set in a Formula 5000 car. In the race their engine let go before half distance. Garth Tander was another frontrunner, but crashed into Tomas Mezera when he suffered an oil leak-induced spin. Simon Wills was leading in John Faulkner's car mid-race but spun going into the Cutting and found the wall. John Bowe got the underdog PAE Motorsport Falcon as high as 5th before engine failure put he and six-time winner Jim Richards out of the race. David Brabham had a rear tyre explode entering the Chase which saw the Wayne Gardner Racing car lift up into the air then spin around, luckily not collecting any of the cars around him as he flew back over the track and ended up half parked in the sandtrap.


1999 FAI 1000, Report
Paul Radisich and Steve Ellery dominated most of the race in the #18 car, with Radisich on course for victory but with 20 laps to go clipped a slower car and received a puncture, damaging the front bodywork as he went over the kerbs entering pitlane. The bodywork damage would later block the radiator and put the Dick Johnson Racing Falcon out with overheating issues, Radisich parking the AU on Mountain Straight. Greg Murphy and Steven Richards both won their 2nd Bathurst 1000, Richards becoming the first driver to win Bathurst in both a Ford and a Holden. They started the race in 12th but quickly floated towards the front of the field, and were the closest challengers to Radisich and Ellery all race.


1999 FAI 1000, Report
It would be the last of 26 starts for 3-time winner Dick Johnson, who also made his 21st Top 10 shootout – a record having taken part in all shootouts (excluding 1998) since 1978. His co-driver and son Steven had been racing for a podium against Paul Morris with about 50 laps to go before spinning at the Chase, but was able to keep going and Dick finished his Bathurst career in 4th place. Long-time privateer Alan “Scotty” Taylor made his last of 18 starts, with his 7-year-old Commodore retiring very early on with engine failure.


1999 FAI 1000, Report
The race would see the debuts of both 2012 winner Paul Dumbrell (breaking the record for youngest starter in the 1000 at the time) and runner-up Dean Canto, however both were out of the race inside 50 laps having been involved in (separate) crashes. Paul Morris received the "Rookie of the Year" award despite having made multiple starts in the race previously.


1999 FAI 1000, Report
Geoff Full and Rodney Forbes won the Privateer's Cup, and even led a few laps during the race on an alternate strategy before being spun out by John Bowe. Cameron McLean and John Cleland were on track to win the class but a crash heading to Reid Park ended their day prematurely, unceremoniously caught in the background of the telecast.


1999 FAI 1000, Results, Pre-Qualifying
A 1-hour Pre-Qualifying session was held on Thursday morning to reduce the field to 55 cars. All cars outside the top 30 in the championship were required to take part or risk failing to qualify.


1999 FAI Cup Final
The 1999 FAI Cup Final was the deciding match of the 1998–99 FAI Cup. Bray Wanderers and Finn Harps contested the final. Two replays were required before Bray Wanderers won the competition. The initial match finished 0–0. The first replay, which stood at 1–1 after 90 minutes, finished 2–2 after extra-time. Ahead of the second replay, the Football Association of Ireland announced that should the game again finish as a draw after extra-time, a penalty shoot-out would be played. However, this was not necessary as Bray won the second replay 2–1.


1999 FAI Cup Final
It is said that Finn Harps would have won it the penalty had been played had Bray not been a goal up.


1999 FAI Cup Final
Charlie McGeever was Finn Harps manager. On the second of the three games, he said during an interview with the Sunday Independent in 2012: "It was like groundhog day. It was up to Dublin, play Bray, back home, up to Dublin again. Three times we came up to Dublin, and we left it behind us, especially the second day, when we were a goal up and 30 seconds left. Then we conceded a penalty, our 'keeper saved it, but they [Bray] got to the rebound first".


1999 FESPIC Games
The 1999 FESPIC Games, officially known as the 7th FESPIC Games, was an Asia-Pacific disabled multi-sport event held in Bangkok, Thailand from 10 to 16 January 1999, 20 days after the 1998 Asian Games. It was one of the two FESPIC Games to have held at the same host city as the Asian Games, the other being the 2002 FESPIC Games in Busan, South Korea.


1999 FESPIC Games
It was the first time Thailand hosted the games. Thailand is the sixth FESPIC organisation member to host the FESPIC games after Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and China. Around 2,258 athletes from 34 nations competed at the games which featured 464 events in 15 sports. The games was opened by the Crown Prince of Thailand, Maha Vajiralongkorn at the Thammasat Stadium.


1999 FESPIC Games, Marketing, Logo
The emblem of the 1999 FESPIC Games is a graphic design of a disabled person surging forward on a speeding wheelchair under a Thai gable, which symbolizing the strong determination of the participating disabled athletes to achieve victory at the games.


1999 FESPIC Games, Marketing, Mascot
The mascot of the 1999 FESPIC Games is an unnamed female siamese cat in a wheelchair bearing a flaming torch with its tail, represents the Games being the 7th edition of the FESPIC Games.


1999 FESPIC Games, The games, Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony featured a card stunt performed by 8,000 students from the Jaturamitr Samakkee football competition.


1999 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup
The 1999 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup season was the 7th season of the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup. Jean-Louis Schlesser was the drivers' champion driving his own buggy. Mitsubishi won the Manufacturers' cup.


1999 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup, Drivers' Championship
The best 6 results, including not more than the best 2 results in Bajas, are taken into account for the final classification of the Cup.


1999 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup, Manufacturers' Championship
In order to be featured in the final classification of the Cup, a manufacturer must enter at least 5 events. Only Group T1 and T2 cars are eligible.


1999 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup, Manufacturers' Championship
The best 6 results, including not more than the best 2 results in Bajas, are taken into account for the final classification of the Cup.


1999 FIA GT Budapest 500km
The 1999 FIA GT Budapest 500 km was the fourth round the 1999 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at the Hungaroring, Hungary, on 4 July 1999.


1999 FIA GT Budapest 500km, Official results
Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC).


1999 FIA GT Championship
The 1999 FIA GT Championship was the third season of FIA GT Championship, an auto racing series endorsed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO). The races featured grand touring cars and awarded a drivers and teams championship. The season began on 11 April 1999 and ended 26 November 1999 after ten races in Europe, the United States, and China.


1999 FIA GT Championship
Following the domination of Mercedes-Benz the previous two seasons, pre-season entries for the GT1 category were so few that the FIA and SRO chose to eliminate the class for 1999. The former GT2 class became the sole category of cars eligible for the championships, although cars from national championships were allowed to participate on an invitational basis at some events. Chrysler Viper Team Oreca dominated the championship for the entire season, winning all but one race en route to the Teams title. Olivier Beretta won his second-consecutive championship, sharing the Drivers title with teammate Karl Wendlinger, earning six of Oreca's nine race victories.


1999 FIA GT Championship, Schedule
For the first time in the history of both the FIA GT Championship and its predecessor series, the BPR Global GT Endurance Championship, a 1,000 km (620 mi) endurance race was not part of the season as the 1000 km Suzuka was dropped from the schedule, instead all races were held to a 500 km (310 mi) distance. The Japanese event was replaced by a race at the Zhuhai International Circuit, which the BPR series had visited in 1996. Dijon-Prenois was also not retained from 1998, replaced by the Zolder and Monza, which started the season.


1999 FIA GT Championship, Schedule
The series initially planned to retain the A1-Ring before the event was replaced by a second American event at Watkins Glen. The two American rounds were intended to be run in conjunction with the United States Road Racing Championship before the series was canceled in the summer of 1999, although American teams were invited to participate as non-scoring entries.


1999 FIA GT Championship, Results and standings, Race results
Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race. Entries were required to complete 75% of the race distance in order to be classified as a finisher. Drivers were required to complete 20% of the total race distance for their car to earn points. Teams scored points for each of its cars which finished a race in a top six placing.


1999 FIA GT Donington 500km
The 1999 FIA GT Donington 500 km was the seventh round the 1999 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at Donington Park, United Kingdom, on 5 September 1999.


1999 FIA GT Donington 500km, Official results
Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC).


1999 FIA GT Hockenheim 500km
The 1999 FIA GT Hockenheim 500 km was the third round the 1999 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at the Hockenheimring Short Circuit, Germany, on June 27, 1999.


1999 FIA GT Hockenheim 500km, Official results
Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC).


1999 FIA GT Homestead 3 Hours
The 1999 FIA GT Homestead 3 Hours was the eighth round the 1999 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, Florida, United States, on September 26, 1999.


1999 FIA GT Homestead 3 Hours
This event was originally intended to share the weekend with a United States Road Racing Championship event. However, the USRRC championship was cancelled midway through the season, leaving the FIA GT Championship to run on their own. In order to increase the number of participants for the FIA GT event, as well as to allow USRRC teams to compete, a National GT (N-GT) designation was used for cars which had run in the USRRC's GT2 and GT3 classes. This would be the first time the FIA GT Championship used two classes of cars since the end of the 1998 season, and the cancellation of GT1.


1999 FIA GT Homestead 3 Hours
Cars running in the N-GT class would not be eligible for points in the FIA GT Championship.


1999 FIA GT Homestead 3 Hours, Official results
Class winners are in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC).


1999 FIA GT Monza 500km
The 1999 FIA GT Monza 500 km was the opening round the 1999 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy, on April 11, 1999. This event was shared with a Sports Racing World Cup round.


1999 FIA GT Monza 500km, Official results
Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC).


1999 FIA GT Oschersleben 500km
The 1999 FIA GT Oschersleben 500 km was the sixth round the 1999 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, Germany, on August 8, 1999.


1999 FIA GT Oschersleben 500km, Official results
Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC).


1999 FIA GT Silverstone 500 miles
The P&O Steam Line Silverstone 500 miles was the second round of the 1999 FIA GT Championship. It took place at the Silverstone Circuit, United Kingdom, on 9 May 1999. This event was also designated as the British Empire Trophy for the year.


1999 FIA GT Silverstone 500 miles, Official results
Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC).


1999 FIA GT Watkins Glen 3 Hours
The Bosch Sports Car Oktoberfest was the ninth round the 1999 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at Watkins Glen International, New York, United States, on October 3, 1999.


1999 FIA GT Watkins Glen 3 Hours
As with the previous FIA GT event, this race was originally intended to share the weekend with a United States Road Racing Championship event. However, the USRRC championship was cancelled midway through the season, leaving the FIA GT Championship to run on their own. In order to increase the number of participants for the FIA GT event, as well as to allow USRRC teams to compete, a National GT (N-GT) designation was used for cars which had run in the USRRC's GT2 and GT3 classes. Cars running in the N-GT class would not be eligible for points in the FIA GT Championship.


1999 FIA GT Watkins Glen 3 Hours
This race would also be the last time that the FIA GT Championship would run in North America.


1999 FIA GT Watkins Glen 3 Hours, Official results
Class winners are in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC).


1999 FIA GT Zhuhai 500km
The 1999 FIA GT Zhuhai 500 km was the tenth and final round the 1999 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at the Zhuhai International Circuit, China, on November 26, 1999.


1999 FIA GT Zhuhai 500km
As with the previous two FIA GT events in the United States, a second class of cars was allowed to compete in order to help fill the field. These cars, designated as National GT (N-GT), were cars from smaller national championships. They were not eligible for points.


1999 FIA GT Zhuhai 500km, Official results
Class winners are in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC).


1999 FIA GT Zolder 500km
The 1999 FIA GT Zolder 500 km was the fifth round the 1999 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at the Circuit Zolder, Belgium, on July 18, 1999.


1999 FIA GT Zolder 500km, Official results
Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC).


1999 FIBA Americas Championship for Women
The 1999 FIBA Americas Championship for Women, was the fifth FIBA Americas Championship for Women regional basketball championship held by FIBA Americas, which also served as Americas qualifier for the 2000 Summer Olympics, granting berths to the top three teams in the final standings. It was held in Cuba between 12 May and 17 August 1999. Eight national teams entered the event under the auspices of FIBA Americas, the sport's regional governing body. The city of Havana hosted the tournament. Cuba won their second title after defeating Brazil in the final.


1999 FIBA EuroLeague Final Four
The 1999 FIBA EuroLeague Final Four was the 1998–99 season's FIBA EuroLeague Final Four tournament, organized by FIBA Europe.


1999 FIBA EuroLeague Final Four
Žalgiris won its first title after, defeating Kinder Bologna in the final game.


1999 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship
The 1999 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship (known at that time as 1999 European Championship for Cadets) was the 15th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. The cities of Polzela, Celje and Laško, in Slovenia, hosted the tournament. Yugoslavia won the trophy for the second time in a row.


1999 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, Qualification
There were two qualifying rounds for this tournament. Twenty-four national teams entered the qualifying round. Fifteen teams advanced to the Challenge Round, where they joined Greece, Israel and France. The remaining eighteen teams were allocated in three groups of six teams each. The three top teams of each group joined Yugoslavia (title holder), Russia (runner-up) and Slovenia (host) in the final tournament.


1999 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, Preliminary round
The twelve teams were allocated in two groups of six teams each.


1999 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, Final standings
Jovan Stefanov, Bojan Bakić, Aleksandar Gajić, Strahinja Zgonjanin, Nemanja Matović, Miloš Pavlović, Dušan Đorđević, Mirko Kovač, Miloš Nišavić, Srđan Bulatović, Ivan Andonov, and Tomislav Tomović. Head Coach: Petar Rodić.


1999 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes
The 1999 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes was the 13th edition of the European basketball championship for U16 women's teams, today known as FIBA U16 Women's European Championship. 12 teams featured in the competition, held in Tulcea, Romania, from 23 July to 1 August 1999.


1999 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes, Qualification Round
24 countries entered the Qualification Round. They were divided in five groups. The top three teams of each group qualified for the Challenge Round.


1999 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes, Qualification Round
Spain, Belarus and France received a bye to the Challenge Round.


1999 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes, Qualification Round
Romania (as host), Russia (as incumbent champion) and the Czech Republic (as incumbent runner-up) received a bye to the main tournament and did not play in the Qualification Round or the Challenge Round.


1999 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes, Qualification Round, Group A
The games were played in Riga, Latvia, from August 21 to 23, 1998.


1999 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes, Qualification Round, Group B
The games were played in Snina, Slovakia, from August 5 to 9, 1998.


1999 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes, Qualification Round, Group C
The games were played in Škofja Loka, Slovenia, from August 5 to 9, 1998.


1999 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes, Qualification Round, Group D
The games were played in Huskvarna, Sweden, from August 5 to 9, 1998.


1999 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes, Qualification Round, Group E
The games were played in Adapazarı, Turkey, from August 5 to 9, 1998.


1999 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes, Challenge Round
Eighteen countries entered the Challenge Round: fifteen from the Qualification Round and Spain, Belarus and France. They were divide in three groups. The top three teams of each group qualified for the Final Round.


1999 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes, Challenge Round
Romania (as host), Russia (as incumbent champion) and the Czech Republic (as incumbent runner-up) received a bye to the main tournament.


1999 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes, Challenge Round, Group A
The games were played in Umag, Croatia, from April 20 to 24, 1999.


1999 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes, Challenge Round, Group B
The games were played in Völklingen, Germany, from April 7 to 11, 1999.


1999 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes, Challenge Round, Group C
The games were played in Santander, Spain, from April 6 to 10, 1999.


1999 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes, Main tournament
In the Preliminary Round, the twelve teams were allocated in two groups of six teams each. The top four teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals. The last two teams of each group qualified for the 9th-12th playoffs.


1999 FIBA Oceania Championship
The FIBA Oceania Championship for Men 1999 was the qualifying tournament of FIBA Oceania for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Australia did not enter this tournament because they took the host spot of the Olympic tournament. The tournament was a one-game playoff between Guam and New Zealand, held in Auckland. New Zealand won and qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympics.


1999 FIBA Under-19 World Championship
The 1999 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Portuguese: Campeonato Mundial Sub-19 da Fiba de 1999) was the sixth edition of the FIBA Under-19 World Cup. It was held in multiple cities in Portugal, with the later rounds held in the capital city of Lisbon, from July 15 to 25, 1999. Spain, won their first (and only, as of 2019), championship in the tournament, by defeating the United States, 94–87 in the Gold Medal Game. Croatia notched their first-ever podium finish, after defeating Argentina 66–59, in the Bronze Medal Game. Andrei Kirilenko of Russia, was named the tournament MVP.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup
The 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fourth FIFA Confederations Cup, and the second organised by FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Mexico between 24 July and 4 August 1999.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup
It was won by Mexico, who beat Brazil 4–3 in the final. Mexico became the first host nation to win the FIFA Confederations Cup. The competition was to originally be held in three stadiums, in three cities in the country. However, since the stadiums in Monterrey were sponsored by a competing beer company other than the official advertiser, the city was left out of the tournament altogether. The tournament was originally scheduled from 8 to 20 January 1999, but was rescheduled by FIFA on 17 November 1998 to accommodate the scheduling of the participating European teams.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup
The tournament was organized in two groups of four teams, in which two teams from both groups advanced to the semi-finals.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup, Knockout stage
In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each). If still tied after extra time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winners.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup, Statistics, Goalscorers
Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Marzouk Al-Otaibi and Ronaldinho are the top scorers in the tournament with six goals each. Ronaldinho won the Golden Shoe award by having more assists than Blanco and Al-Otaibi. In total, 55 goals were scored by 29 different players, with none of them credited as own goal.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup, Statistics, Tournament ranking
Per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup Final
The 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup Final was a football match to determine the winners of the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup, was the fourth FIFA Confederations Cup, and the second organised by FIFA, a quadrennial international men's football tournament organised by FIFA. The match was held at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, on 4 August 1999, and was contested by the winners of the semi-finals, Mexico and Brazil.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup Final
Mexico won the match 4–3, earning their first title in history and being the first CONCACAF team to win the tournament.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup Final, Background
This was the first time Mexico had defeated Brazil in a FIFA tournament final. Prior to the tournament, Mexico never won a major FIFA tournament, but came close to in the second edition (also the last edition) of the King Fahd Cup, ending up in third place, under Denmark and Argentina.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup Final, Background
For Brazil, this was their second and consecutive final after beating Australia in the 1997 Confederations Cup Final, making them the first team to win the tournament, since FIFA took over the King Fahd Cup.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup Final, Background, Mexico
This marked the first time Mexico qualified to the tournament final, and the first time a CONCACAF representative would reach the final.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup Final, Background, Mexico
In their tournament debut, Mexico won 5–1 in their first match against Saudi Arabia. Later, they tied in a disappointing game 2–2 against Egypt, that got a dramatic equalizer in the last five minutes. For their last group stage match, Bolivia were their rivals, beating them 1–0 in the 52nd minute, that gave Mexico a total of seven points. Then in the semi-finals, United States stood in Mexico's way, but were later defeated 1–0 by golden goal, scored in the 97' minute that gave Mexico the first ticket to the final.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup Final, Background, Brazil
Meanwhile, this was the second consecutive final for Brazil. They were looking forward on winning their second Confederations Cup, repeating like in the 1997 edition.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup Final, Background, Brazil
The defending champions made their tournament debut with a 4–0 win over a surprisingly disappointing Germany. Then won against United States with only a 1–0 win. Later, they finished on top of their group with nine points after they defeated New Zealand 2–0. In the semi finals, they astonishingly beat Saudi Arabia 8-2 to send them to their 2nd straight final.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup Group A
Group A of the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup took place from 25 to 29 July 1999 in Mexico City's Estadio Azteca. The group consisted of Bolivia, Egypt, host nation Mexico, and Saudi Arabia.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup Group B
Group B of the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup took place from 24 to 30 July 1999 in Guadalajara's Estadio Jalisco. The group consisted of defending champion Brazil, Germany, New Zealand, and the United States.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup knockout stage
The knockout stage of the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup began on 1 August with the semi-final round, and concluded on 4 August 1999 with the final at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. The top two teams from each group advanced to the knockout stage to compete in a single-elimination style tournament. A third place match was included and played between the two losing teams of the semi-finals.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup knockout stage
In the knockout stage (including the final), if a match was level at the end of 90 minutes, extra time of two periods (15 minutes each) would be played. If the score was still level after extra time, the match would be decided by a penalty shoot-out. Additionally, a golden goal rule was used, according to which if the goal is scored during the extra time, the game ends immediately and the scoring team becomes the winner.


1999 FIFA Confederations Cup squads
Below are the rosters for the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup tournament in Mexico.


1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship
The FIFA U-17 World Championship 1999, the eighth edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Auckland, Christchurch, Napier, and Dunedin in New Zealand between 10 November and 27 November 1999. Players born after 1 January 1982 could participate in this tournament. This was the first FIFA tournament held in the Pacific Islands.


1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship, Venues
New Zealand's capital city Wellington was not allocated any matches as the city's only venue at the time -  Athletic Park - was not deemed adequate by FIFA as a match venue.


1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship, Goalscorers
Ishmael Addo of Ghana won the Golden Shoe award for scoring seven goals. In total, 93 goals were scored by 59 different players, with two of them credited as own goals.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from June 19 to July 10, 1999, at eight venues across the country. The tournament was the most successful FIFA Women's World Cup in terms of attendance, television ratings, and public interest.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 1999 edition was the first to field sixteen teams, an increase from the twelve in 1995, and featured an all-female roster of referees and match officials. It was played primarily in large American football venues due to expected demand following the successful 1996 Olympics women's tournament. The average attendance was 37,319 spectators per match and the total attendance was 1.194 million, a record that stood until 2015. The tournament earned a profit of $4 million on its $30 million operating budget.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup
The final, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, was attended by 90,185 people, setting an international record for spectators at a women's sporting event. The United States won the tournament by defeating China in a penalty shootout after a scoreless draw. The 5–4 shootout ended with Brandi Chastain scoring the winning penalty with her team's fifth kick, following an earlier miss by China's Liu Ying. Chinese forward Sun Wen and Brazilian midfielder Sissi were the joint top goalscorers of the tournament, with seven goals each.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup
The tournament was considered a "watershed moment" for women's soccer in the U.S. that increased interest and participation in women's soccer. A new professional league, the Women's United Soccer Association, was established following the tournament, and played three seasons before folding because of financial difficulties. The United States also hosted the next World Cup in 2003, which was played in smaller venues and ended with the host team finishing in third place.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Background
The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the international women's championship created by FIFA following several precursor tournaments that were organized to test its feasibility. International women's football had gained popularity in the 1970s, following the easing of gender sanctions by national football associations, and competitions were organized between national teams, including the Mundialito and Women's World Invitational Tournament. A FIFA-organized women's tournament was hosted by China in 1988 and was followed by the announcement of the first FIFA Women's World Cup, to be hosted by China in 1991.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Background
The tournament, which had several modified rules and was officially known as the 1st FIFA World Championship for Women's Football for the M&M's Cup until retroactively given the World Cup moniker, was considered a success by FIFA and was followed up by the second World Cup in Sweden four years later with greater media attention but played in front of smaller crowds averaging under 4,500.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Background, Host selection
The United States Soccer Federation announced their intention to bid for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup in February 1995, shortly after hosting the successful 1994 men's World Cup. Australia and Chile both announced their intention to bid but withdrew from the process in December 1995. This left the United States as the sole applicant by the March 1996 deadline for bids. The FIFA Executive Committee officially awarded hosting rights to the United States on May 31, 1996, the same day that the 2002 men's World Cup was jointly awarded to Japan and South Korea.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Venues
With the exception of the semi-finals, the tournament's 32 matches were organized into 15 doubleheaders, consisting of two matches played back-to-back in the same stadium. The semi-finals were played in separate venues, but organized as doubleheaders hosted by the San Jose Clash and New England Revolution of Major League Soccer. Eight venues were used for the tournament: three on the East Coast, four on the West Coast, and one in Chicago. Most of the stadiums were American football venues with higher capacities than many of the stadiums used in the first two tournaments.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Venues
At FIFA's request, the tournament's organizers had originally planned to use five smaller college football venues on the East Coast located in a single time zone. The final match would be staged at RFK Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. Following the success of the inaugural women's soccer tournament at the 1996 Summer Olympics, which had high attendances and culminated in 76,489 watching the gold medal match, the organizing committee chose to use larger stadiums instead and received 15 bids in 1997.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Venues
The eight venues and host cities were announced on November 19, 1997, including five large American football venues that were used in the 1994 men's World Cup. The tournament final was awarded to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, which reprised its role from the 1984 Summer Olympics gold medal match and the 1994 men's final. The opening match would be played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, near New York City.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Venues
The tournament's organizing committee estimated that the 1999 World Cup would average an attendance of 25,000 per match, with U.S. matches and later knockout ties at near sellouts in the larger venues. Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in Landover, Maryland, serving the Washington, D.C. market, had a limited capacity of 41,000 seats because of ongoing construction during the group stage. It was later raised to 55,000 for the quarter-finals.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Venues
Two smaller venues, Civic Stadium in Portland, Oregon, and Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California, were chosen to each host several group stage matches and one quarter-final doubleheader. For the tournament, Civic Stadium was outfitted with a temporary grass field that was laid over its artificial turf surface, which debuted during a warm-up friendly on June 6. Other venues underwent small modifications to host the tournament's matches, including converting American football locker rooms to accommodate more teams and changing the dimensions of the playing field.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Venues
Ticket pre-sales at discounted prices began in October 1997 and over 300,000 were sold by April 1999. By early June, ticket sales had reached 500,000—setting a new record for a women's sporting event by surpassing the NCAA women's basketball tournament. The opening weekend's eight matches were organized into four doubleheaders that attracted a total of 134,236 spectators, surpassing the total attendance for the 1995 World Cup; the United States–Denmark match drew a crowd of 78,972 at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, setting a new U.S. record for attendance at a women's sporting event. That figure was later surpassed by the final, played between the United States and China at the Rose Bowl in front of a crowd of 90,185 spectators—a world record for women's sports.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Participating teams and officials, Qualification
The 1999 Women's World Cup had sixteen participating teams, an increase from the twelve in 1995 and the largest field in the tournament's history. Ghana, Mexico, North Korea, and Russia all made their Women's World Cup debuts at the 1999 tournament. Of the remaining twelve teams, three were returning for their second tournament; nine had participated in all three editions since 1991. The tournament's seven best quarter-finalists also qualified for the 2000 Sydney Olympics alongside hosts Australia.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Participating teams and officials, Qualification
The United States was granted automatic qualification as the host. The remaining participants were determined through a series of six tournaments run by the continental confederations of world football from 1997 to 1998; these comprised 63 countries playing in 141 matches. FIFA allocated six berths to Europe; three to Asia; two to Africa; and one each to North America (excluding the hosts), Oceania, and South America. Another berth (for Mexico) was determined by a play-off series between the second-place finishers in the North and South American tournaments.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Participating teams and officials, Draw
The tournament's final draw took place on February 14, 1999, on a temporary outdoor stage at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California. It was televised live by ESPN during the halftime of an exhibition match between the United States women's team and the FIFA Women's World Stars at the stadium. The United States lost the match 2–1, their first home defeat in more than 40 matches.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Participating teams and officials, Draw
The draw was conducted using four pots of four teams each. The four highest-ranked teams, China, Germany, Norway, and the United States, were seeded into Pot A. The remaining pots were organized based on geographic location, with four European teams in Pot B, South America, Asia, and Oceania represented in Pot C, and North America and Africa in Pot D. The United States was placed in slot A1, separated from Canada and Mexico; similarly, China was separated from Japan and North Korea in the draw.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Participating teams and officials, Draw
As a result of the restrictions in seeding and pot placement, two of the World Cup groups each contained two European teams. Group B was dubbed the "group of death" because it contained non-seeded Brazil, an Olympic semi-finalist, alongside Germany, Italy, and Mexico. The teams drawn in Groups C and D were switched to place China's opening match at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, with hopes of attracting the San Francisco Bay Area's Chinese-American community.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Participating teams and officials, Squads
Each team's squad for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup consisted of 20 players, the same as the 1995 tournament. The sixteen participating national associations were required to confirm their final rosters no later than June 9, 1999. Three days after the deadline, the full rosters were published by FIFA on their website. Several teams, including the United States, Canada, and Mexico, drew much of their roster from U.S. college teams. The oldest player at the tournament was Norwegian captain Linda Medalen, who turned 34 before the opening matchday, while the youngest was 16-year-old Ifeanyi Chiejine of Nigeria.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Participating teams and officials, Match officials
The 1999 tournament was the first World Cup to feature a pool of 31 referees composed entirely of women—the result of a directive from FIFA president Sepp Blatter approved the year before. They worked in groups during matching and training and were divided between two base facilities in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. to reduce travel. Before the tournament, several coaches raised concerns over the quality of the referee pool, particularly those chosen for geographic diversity. By the end of the group stage, several coaches had complained of inconsistent fouls and offside calls. This was blamed in part on the referees being inexperienced with working in front of large crowds. In a post-tournament report, FIFA stated that the trial of all-female referees had been successful and that further development would produce better results in future tournaments.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Participating teams and officials, Match officials
FIFA published the final list of referees on April 13, 1999. From this list, only Ghanaian assistant referee Juliana Akuteye did not officiate at the tournament. American referee Kari Seitz was selected in June as a replacement for another official who had been denied a travel visa to the United States.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Preparations
The organizing committee for the 1999 tournament was led by chairwoman Donna de Varona, a former Olympian swimmer and co-founder of the Women's Sports Foundation, and president Marla Messing, an attorney and protégé of U.S. soccer president Alan Rothenberg who had helped organize the 1994 men's World Cup in the United States. Headquartered in Century City, California, it had a $30 million budget for the tournament, a tenth of that for the men's tournament. It was partially funded by a $2.5 million loan from the U.S. Soccer Foundation using profits from the 1994 men's World Cup. Messing submitted the committee's business plan for the tournament in September 1998, two days before giving birth.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Preparations
The event attracted funding from several major corporate sponsors who had previously shied away from women's soccer, including: McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Fujifilm, Gillette, and Allstate; the companies, however, did not promote the tournament through advertising and tie-in campaigns like they did for the 1994 men's World Cup. The tournament's official equipment sponsor was Adidas, who supplied the match balls and other equipment. A new Women's World Cup Trophy was commissioned for the tournament, designed by William Sawaya of Sawaya & Moroni. It cost $30,000 to design and assemble the 4.6-kilogram (10 lb) trophy.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Preparations
Following a bureaucratic issue that prevented it from being displayed at the February draw, it was unveiled on April 19, 1999. FIFA also organized several other business events during the tournament, including the FIFA Women's Football Symposium and an extraordinary session of the FIFA Congress. Both took place in Los Angeles before the final.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Preparations
Following the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade a few weeks before the tournament, organizers feared the Chinese team would pull out of the World Cup. However, the team played as planned and reached the final, and the presidents of the United States and China exchanged congratulatory messages. The closing of the U.S. embassy in Beijing also affected the visa process for the North Korean team and staff, as the country did not have formal diplomatic relations with the U.S., but their visas were approved in time for the tournament.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Preparations, Media and marketing
All 32 matches were televised in the United States on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2, of which 26 were live broadcasts and six were tape delayed. The network also carried some matches in 70 other countries on its affiliated channels. Lifetime Television produced several documentaries and special programs for the World Cup. Eurosport broadcast most matches live across 55 countries, while local broadcasters in several countries also carried matches. The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), the largest women's professional sports league in the country, rescheduled several games to avoid clashing with World Cup fixtures.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Preparations, Media and marketing
It also cross-promoted the tournament during its television broadcasts. Over 2,000 accredited journalists covered the event, including 950 writers, 410 photographers, and 600 broadcast personnel. Several major newspapers in the United States sent reporters to cover matches, with credentialed staff growing in number as the tournament went on, while others declined to produce content beyond wire reports.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Preparations, Media and marketing
The official slogan of the tournament was "This is my game. This is my future. Watch me play." It was unveiled alongside the logo and branding in July 1997. Tickets were marketed primarily to young girls and their fathers, rather than the stereotypical "soccer mom", and sold out quickly. The organizing committee sponsored and arranged training camps and other events for youth soccer players in host cities. Some of these included appearances by members of the United States team to advertise the tournament and invite players and their families to attend matches.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Preparations, Media and marketing
Boy band 'N Sync and pop performers B*Witched and Billie performed at the opening ceremony for the Women's World Cup at Giants Stadium; Billie's single, "Because We Want To", was chosen as the tournament's official song. Pop singer Jennifer Lopez performed at the closing ceremony before the final and also recorded an official music video for her single "Let's Get Loud".


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage
The sixteen participating teams were organized into four groups, labeled A to D, by the final draw on February 14, 1999. The group stage consisted of 24 matches played in a round-robin format, in which each team played one match against the other three in their group. Teams were awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw, and none for a defeat. In the event of a tie on points, group position would be determined by several tiebreakers, beginning with goal differential and the number of goals scored. The winners and runners-up from each group qualified for the first round of the knockout stage, which began with the quarter-finals on June 30, 1999.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group A
Hosts and 1991 champions United States were placed in Group A alongside Denmark, who were undefeated in European qualification, Nigeria, champions of the African qualifying competition, and North Korea in their World Cup debut. The United States defeated Denmark 3–0 in the opening match, played on June 19 in front of a record 78,972 at Giants Stadium, with goals scored by Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, and Kristine Lilly. The following day at the Rose Bowl, North Korea lost 2–1 to Nigeria by conceding goals to Mercy Akide and Rita Nwadike in the second half.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group A
The United States hosted Nigeria at Chicago's Soldier Field for their second match. They fell behind in the second minute by conceding a goal to Nkiru Okosieme after a defensive mistake. The Americans rallied and found an equalizer in the form of an own goal scored by Ifeanyi Chiejine in the 19th minute. This initiated a 23-minute period where the home side scored six goals on their way to a 7–1 victory.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group A
North Korea earned an upset victory over Denmark in Portland, winning 3–1 with two first-half goals and another in the 73rd minute before a consolation goal by the Danes. The North Korean victory denied the United States an instant berth in the quarter-finals. It also preserved the chances for all four teams in the group to finish in the top two places and qualify for the knockout stage.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group A
Nigeria became the first African team to advance to the quarter-finals of a Women's World Cup with a 2–0 defeat of Denmark in their final group stage match. Nigeria's Super Falcons took the lead with a goal by Mercy Akide in the first half and added a second by Okosieme in the 81st minute, while Denmark had a goal disallowed and was unable to finish its chances.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group A
The United States rested several of its starting players for its final group stage match against North Korea, but finished with a 3–0 victory with a goal from reserve striker Shannon MacMillan and another two scored by midfielder Tisha Venturini in the second half. The Americans finished first in Group A, with nine points, followed by Nigeria with six.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group B
Group B, dubbed the tournament's "group of death", included 1995 runners-up Germany, Olympic semi-finalists Brazil, 1991 quarter-finalist Italy, and newcomers Mexico. Brazil opened the group stage with a 7–1 blowout win over Mexico at Giants Stadium, scoring the final six goals of the match after it was tied at 1–1 ten minutes in. Forward Pretinha and midfielder Sissi both scored hat-tricks, the former's completed in stoppage time and the latter in the 50th minute. Kátia scored from a penalty kick before half-time. Italy and Germany played to a 1–1 draw the following day at the Rose Bowl, avoiding an upset for the Italians with a penalty kick scored by Bettina Wiegmann in the 61st minute to level the match.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group B
Sissi scored twice for Brazil in their second match, a 2–0 victory against Italy in Chicago, earning the team a quarter-finals berth. Mexico was eliminated from the group in a 6–0 loss to Germany in Portland, having been outshot 43–2 and unable to force a save from German goalkeeper Silke Rottenberg until the 89th minute. Inka Grings scored a hat-trick for the Germans, including the opening and closing goals of the match, while her teammates Sandra Smisek, Ariane Hingst, and Renate Lingor each scored one goal.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group B
Brazil and Germany played on the final matchday for first place in Group B, as the second-place team would be drawn against the United States in the quarter-finals. After conceding to Germany's Birgit Prinz in the eighth minute, Brazil rallied from behind and took a 2–1 lead by the end of the first half on goals by Kátia and Sissi. A penalty kick, awarded to Germany in the first minute of the second half after Prinz was fouled in the box, was converted by Wiegmann to tie the match at 2–2.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group B
The Germans then took the lead on a deflected shot by Steffi Jones, but a last-minute header from substitute forward Maycon in stoppage time tied the match at 3–3. Brazil finished atop the group and would play Nigeria in the quarter-finals, while Germany advanced as the second-placed team to face the United States. Italy, who were already eliminated by the Brazil–Germany draw, defeated Mexico 2–0 at Foxboro Stadium to finish the tournament with a 1–1–1 record.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group C
Reigning World Cup champions Norway were seeded into Group C, which also had 1995 quarter-finalists Japan, North American qualification champions Canada, and newcomers Russia, who qualified through the European play-offs. Canada took the lead in the 32nd minute of its opening match against Japan, played at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, but conceded to Japanese forward Nami Otake in the 64th minute and ended the match with a 1–1 draw.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group C
Norway began its defense of the World Cup title in Massachusetts with a 2–1 win over the debuting Russians, with a goal by Brit Sandaune off a 28th-minute corner kick taken by Marianne Pettersen, who scored in the 68th minute and took nine more shots; Galina Komarova scored a consolation goal for Russia in the 78th minute, one of just two shots on goal for the team during the entire match.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group C
At Jack Kent Cooke Stadium near Washington, D.C., Norway became the first team to secure a place in the quarter-finals by winning 7–1 in a rout of Canada. Canada had tied the match at 1–1 with a goal in the 31st minute by Charmaine Hooper, but Norwegian forward Ann Kristin Aarønes, who had scored the first goal in the eighth minute, restored her team's lead with a header in the 36th minute. Five Norwegian players scored in the second half, equaling the seven goals they scored against Canada in the first round of the 1995 tournament. Four days after their defeat to Norway, the Russians earned their first World Cup win by defeating Japan 5–0 at Portland's Civic Stadium. The team scored four goals in the second half, including two by Olga Letyushova and three throughout the match that were assisted by captain Irina Grigorieva.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group C
Russia qualified for the quarter-finals with a 4–1 victory over Canada at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, finishing in second place with six points. Grigorieva scored Russia's first goal in the 54th minute and assisted on their second, the first of two goals scored by Elena Fomina; Canada had reduced the deficit to 2–1 with a goal by Charmaine Hooper in the 76th minute, but Fomina's second in the 86th minute and a stoppage time goal from Olga Karasseva finished off the match.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group C
Norway finished unbeaten in the group stage by defeating Japan 4–0 at Soldier Field on June 26, benefiting from an early penalty kick and an own goal that were both conceded by Hiromi Isozaki; Isozaki fouled Monica Knudsen in the box in the seventh minute, leading to a penalty converted by Hege Riise a minute later, and misplayed a cross by Unni Lehn into her own goal in the 26th minute. The Norwegian team lost captain Linda Medalen and forward Ann Kristin Aarønes to injuries in the first half, but not before the latter had scored the team's third goal. The final goal of the match was scored in the 61st minute by Dagny Mellgren, who headed in a cross produced by Lehn.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group D
Group D included 1995 semi-finalists and Olympic runners-up China, 1995's last-place team Australia, newcomers and African tournament runners-up Ghana, and previous hosts and semi-finalists Sweden. In their opening match against Sweden at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, China conceded an early goal in the second minute to Swedish defender Kristin Bengtsson. Forward Jin Yan scored the equalizer for China in the 17th minute and Liu Ailing scored the winning goal in the 69th minute.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group D
Australia and Ghana played to a 1–1 draw at Foxboro Stadium in the group's other opening match a day later, which began with a red card shown to Ghanaian midfielder Barikisu Tettey-Quao in the 25th minute. Ghanaian goalkeeper Memunatu Sulemana made 11 saves to keep the match scoreless until the 74th minute, when Matildas captain Julie Murray scored to break the deadlock. Ghana equalized less than two minutes later with a finish by substitute Nana Gyamfuah following a rebound off Australian goalkeeper Tracey Wheeler's save, securing a point in the group standings.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group D
Sweden took an early lead in its second match, played against Australia at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium near Washington, D.C., with a header in the eighth minute by Jane Törnqvist off a corner kick and a tap-in goal by Hanna Ljungberg twelve minutes later. Julie Murray's goal in the 32nd minute reduced the deficit to 2–1 at half-time, but Ljungberg scored again in the 69th minute because of a defensive error by Australia, confirming a 3–1 victory for the Swedes.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group D
Sun Wen completed a hat-trick in the first 54 minutes of China's match against Ghana, which ended in a 7–0 victory at Portland's Civic Stadium and clinched the team's quarter-finals berth. Ghana lost defender Regina Ansah to a red card in the 52nd minute and three of her teammates earned three yellow cards for other fouls. The Chinese continued to score in the second half, including a pair by Zhang Ouying in the 82nd minute and at the beginning of stoppage time, while Zhao Lihong added another stoppage time goal a minute later.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage, Group D
China closed out its group stage by defeating Australia 3–1, extending its winning streak to three matches and outscoring its opponents 12–2. Australian forward Alicia Ferguson was sent off for a foul in the second minute, which remains the fastest red card in Women's World Cup history. Sun Wen scored her first goal in the 39th minute and followed with a second shortly after half-time, having received passes from Zhao Lihong for both goals. Cheryl Salisbury reduced the deficit to 2–1 with her strike in the 66th minute, ending a 253-minute shutout streak for Chinese goalkeeper Gao Hong. The Chinese ultimately won 3–1 after an assurance goal was scored by Liu Ying in the 73rd minute. Sweden advanced to the quarter-finals with a 2–0 victory over Ghana in Chicago, relying on two goals scored by early substitute Victoria Svensson in the 58th and 86th minutes.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage
The knockout stage of the Women's World Cup consisted of three single-elimination rounds leading to a final and a third-place playoff. Following a tie in regulation time, two 15-minute periods of extra time would be used to determine a winner. For the first time in Women's World Cup history, the golden goal would be used during extra time to instantly decide the winner in sudden death. If the score remained tied at the end of extra time, a penalty shootout would ensue.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The first match of a quarter-finals doubleheader at Spartan Stadium in San Jose featured China and Russia, the only team to debut at the tournament and also advance to the knockout stage. China advanced with a 2–0 victory over Russia, with goals by Pu Wei and Jin Yan, while their opponents did not manage a shot towards goal until stoppage time. The second match of the doubleheader, between neighboring rivals Norway and Sweden, began with a scoreless first half and ended with four goals scored in the second half for a 3–1 Norwegian win.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
Norway opened the scoring with a header by Ann Kristin Aarønes in the 51st minute, which was followed by a goal from Marianne Pettersen in the 58th minute and a penalty scored by Hege Riise in the 72nd minute; Sweden scored a consolation goal by way of a run and shot from Malin Moström in the 90th minute.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The next doubleheader, at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium near Washington, D.C., began with a match between the United States and Germany played in front of 54,642, including U.S. President Bill Clinton, First Lady Hillary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton. U.S. defender Brandi Chastain scored an own goal in the fifth minute after a miscommunication with goalkeeper Briana Scurry, but the Americans found an equalizing goal eleven minutes later from Tiffeny Milbrett. Germany retook the lead in first-half stoppage time on a strike by Bettina Wiegmann that beat Scurry from 22 yards (20 m).


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
Chastain redeemed herself by scoring the second equalizing goal for the U.S. in the 49th minute, finishing a corner kick that was taken by Mia Hamm. Defender Joy Fawcett's header off a corner kick in the 66th minute proved to be the game-winning goal, allowing the United States to advance with a 3–2 defeat of the Germans.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The second match at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, featuring Brazil and Nigeria, was the first in FIFA Women's World Cup history to be decided by a golden goal in extra time. Cidinha scored twice in the first 22 minutes of the match and was joined by Nenê in the 35th minute to give Brazil a 3–0 lead at half-time. Nigeria substituted goalkeeper Ann Chiejine for Judith Chime and began pressing its attackers early in the second half.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The Super Eagles scored their first goal in the 63rd minute, Prisca Emeafu taking advantage of a defensive mistake, and added a second through Nkiru Okosieme's shot off a rebound in the 72nd minute. Nkechi Egbe scored the equalizing goal for Nigeria in the 85th minute with a far-post strike from 14 yards (13 m). The goal forced sudden death extra time, which Nigeria would play with only 10 players after forward Patience Avre was ejected in the 87th minute for receiving a second yellow card. Brazilian midfielder Sissi, who had assisted two of the first-half goals, scored the golden goal from 22 yards (20 m) in the 104th minute to win the match 4–3 for Brazil.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The top seven quarter-finalists also qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympics alongside hosts Australia, who were eliminated in the group stage. The Olympics qualification was determined by a series of tie-breakers, beginning with the margin of defeat in the quarter-final match, followed by goals scored in the quarter-final and group stage performance. 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.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage, Semi-finals
The semi-finals fixtures on U.S. Independence Day were organized as doubleheaders with the host Major League Soccer teams, the New England Revolution and the San Jose Clash. Both teams played regular season matches afterwards against the MetroStars and D.C. United, respectively. The United States faced Brazil at Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area in front of 73,123 spectators. The U.S. began the match with an early lead, following a mistimed catch from Brazilian goalkeeper Maravilha that allowed Cindy Parlow to score from a header in the fifth minute.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage, Semi-finals
Brazil responded with several shots in the second half that required goalkeeper Briana Scurry to make three major saves to preserve the lead. On a counterattack in the 80th minute, U.S. striker Mia Hamm drew a penalty kick on a foul from Brazilian captain Elane. Veteran midfielder Michelle Akers, who had stayed on despite two serious head collisions, converted the penalty kick to give the United States a 2–0 victory.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage, Semi-finals
In the second semi-final, played before 28,986 attendees at Foxboro Stadium in Massachusetts, China defeated reigning champions Norway in a 5–0 rout that matched the team's worst-ever margin of defeat. Sun Wen opened the scoring in the third minute, with a rebounded shot off a save by goalkeeper Bente Nordby. This was followed by a right-footed volley by Liu Ailing eleven minutes later off a corner kick, increasing the team's lead to 2–0.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage, Semi-finals
Liu scored her second goal in the 51st minute, hitting a left-footed volley from 15 yards (14 m), and Fan Yunjie scored China's fourth goal in the 65th minute with another volley off a free kick taken by Sun. China was awarded a penalty kick in the 72nd minute for a handball in the Norwegian box. Sun converted it, scoring her seventh goal of the tournament to tie Sissi as the leading goalscorer.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage, Third place play-off
The third-place play-off, contested by Norway and Brazil, was the first part of a doubleheader with the final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena kicking off in the morning. Norway had the majority of chances to score during the match, but Maravilha saved all of their shots to preserve her shutout. Pretinha had two chances to score for Brazil and take the lead, but they were denied by Norwegian goalkeeper Bente Nordby late in the second half.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage, Third place play-off
After remaining scoreless through regulation time and stoppage time, the match advanced straight into a penalty shootout; the standard golden goal extra time was skipped due to the constraints of television scheduling ahead of the final. Pretinha missed the opening penalty for Brazil, but the remaining five taken by her teammates were all converted; Norway lost its lead in the shootout with a miss in the third round by Silje Jørgensen, and the shootout ended 5–4 in Brazil's favor after the sixth round following a miss by Ann Kristin Aarønes and a successful shot by Formiga.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage, Final
The 1999 final at the Rose Bowl was played in front of 90,185 spectators, claimed to be a world record for a women's sports event, while its U.S. television broadcast averaged 17.9 million viewers and peaked at 40 million. The two finalists, the United States and China, had previously met in the gold medal match at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, which the U.S. won 2–1. With several unsuccessful attempts at the goal made by the hosts, the match was scoreless after regulation time and moved into extra time. China shot twice towards the U.S. goal in extra time, but saves by midfielder Kristine Lilly and goalkeeper Briana Scurry preserved the tie until the end of extra time.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage, Final
In the ensuing penalty shootout, the first four players scored on their shots before Liu Ying had her attempt in the third round saved by Scurry. Scurry was accused of cheating by Chinese media outlets because she had intentionally stepped ahead of the goal line before saving Liu's shot, but stated that "everybody does it". Lilly and Mia Hamm successfully converted their penalties and gave the Americans a lead, but Zhang Ouying and Sun Wen were able to convert theirs and keep it tied 4–4.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage, Final
Brandi Chastain, who had missed a penalty kick in the Algarve Cup against the Chinese months earlier, beat goalkeeper Gao Hong and won the shootout 5–4 for the United States. Chastain celebrated by removing her jersey and revealing her sports bra underneath, creating one of the most iconic moments in women's sports history as it appeared on the covers of major magazines and newspapers.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Aftermath and legacy
The 1999 Women's World Cup is regarded as a watershed moment in the history of U.S. women's soccer because of its cultural impact and the great public interest it generated. It had a total attendance of 1.194 million spectators and averaged 37,319 per match. This remained the highest total attendance for any Women's World Cup until 2015, which had more matches. The tournament's merchandise sales and television ratings were especially high in the U.S., including several matches that set record for ESPN and ESPN2. The final held the record for the largest domestic television audience for a soccer match until the 2014 men's World Cup. The organizing committee reported an estimated profit of $4 million on its $30 million operating budget, making the tournament a financial success.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Aftermath and legacy
The United States became the first team to win two Women's World Cups as well as the first to simultaneously hold the World Cup and Olympic titles. The team, nicknamed the "99ers" and regarded as the best to have been produced by the U.S. women's soccer program, became instant celebrities and appeared on late-night talk shows and news programs. The team went on a months-long victory tour following the final, which was originally self-organized due to a pay dispute with the United States Soccer Federation. They appeared in national advertising campaigns for several major companies.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Aftermath and legacy
Although the team finished as silver medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics behind Norway, the U.S. team would go on to win gold medals at the three subsequent Olympics. The United States finished third at the next two editions of the Women's World Cup and as runners-up to Japan in 2011 before winning their third World Cup title in 2015 and fourth in 2019. Several members of the 2011, 2015, and 2019 teams cited the 1999 tournament as providing inspiration during their pursuit of a professional career in the sport. Christie Rampone was the last member of the 1999 team to retire, doing so in 2017 after earning 311 caps.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Aftermath and legacy
The organizers and supporters of the Women's World Cup had hoped to ride the momentum from the tournament's popularity to form a professional women's soccer league akin to Major League Soccer, which was established after the 1994 men's World Cup. The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was formed in January 2000 and began play in April 2001 with eight teams and the support of the United States Soccer Federation. The league's $40 million, five-year budget lasted only one season while its attendance and television ratings struggled to meet projections and investor demands.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Aftermath and legacy
The league played three full seasons before folding in September 2003 with losses estimated at $90 million and an average attendance of 6,667 in its final season. The league's teams continued playing in exhibition matches, but eventually folded, while another professional league was founded in 2007 and folded after three seasons. The National Women's Soccer League was established in 2012 and is the longest-running women's soccer league in U.S. history, drawing on greater financial and planning support from the United States Soccer Federation.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Aftermath and legacy
China was originally awarded the rights to host the 2003 tournament, but the SARS outbreak forced them to withdraw as hosts. The United States stepped in to host the tournament, which was organized in three months and was used unsuccessfully to prevent the WUSA from folding. The 2003 tournament used smaller venues, including several soccer-specific stadiums built for Major League Soccer teams, and its television broadcasts competed against American football and baseball games that were scheduled at the same time. It averaged an attendance of 20,525 and ended with a victory for Germany over Sweden at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Awards
Chinese striker Sun Wen was awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player. She also shared the Golden Shoe with Brazilian midfielder Sissi as the tournament's joint top goalscorers with seven goals and three assists for both players. Sissi also won the Silver Ball, while American veteran Michelle Akers won the Bronze Ball. Ann Kristin Aarønes won the Bronze Shoe with four goals and one assist. China won the FIFA Fair Play Award for its disciplinary record during the tournament. The tournament's awards were presented at the FIFA World Player of the Year ceremony on January 24, 2000, in Brussels.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Awards, All-Star Team
The sixteen members of the Women's World Cup All-Star Team were announced on July 8, 1999, including seven players from China and five from the United States. It was the first all-star team to be chosen during the World Cup by FIFA officials.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Awards, All-Star Team
Wang Liping Wen Lirong Doris Fitschen Brandi Chastain Carla Overbeck


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Statistics, Goalscorers
A total of 123 goals were scored at the Women's World Cup, setting a new tournament record, and averaged 3.84 per match. 74 different players scored goals, including three own goals and four hat-tricks. Sissi of Brazil and Sun Wen of China PR won the Golden Shoe award for scoring seven goals, while Ann Kristin Aarønes of Norway finished third with four goals.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Statistics, Tournament ranking
Per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final
The final of the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was an association football match that took place on 10 July 1999, to determine the winner of the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup. The host United States and China played to a scoreless draw following double golden goal extra time. After that, the United States won the title 5–4 with a penalties victory.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final
The match represented one of the most important events in the history of American athletics. It was played before over 90,000 fans in what remains the largest crowd ever to watch a women's sporting event. The well-known image of Brandi Chastain celebrating the winning spot kick that was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated became one of the defining images of women's athletics in the United States.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Finalists
The match featured two powerhouses of women's association football. The United States had won the first FIFA World Cup championship in China and the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics. China had won the silver at the 1996 Olympics and had defeated the United States in the final of the 1999 Algarve Cup. The teams featured two of the superstars of women's soccer, strikers Mia Hamm of the United States and Sun Wen of China.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Finalists
The United States was bidding to become the first team to win a world championship on home soil, something China had failed to do in 1991, as well as the first team to win multiple championships. China, meanwhile, was attempting to join the United States and Norway as World Cup champions.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Finalists
China were the first Asian national team to reach the FIFA Women's World Cup Final. This was also the first final not involving a European team.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Route to the final
The United States had qualified automatically as host nation. Accordingly, they elected to skip the 1998 CONCACAF Women's Championship, which served as the CONCACAF qualifier. They would not fail to win a CONCACAF championship again until 2010. China had qualified by winning their sixth straight AFC Women's Championship in 1997.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Route to the final
Once at the finals, the United States reached the knockout stage by easily winning Group A. After trailing 2–1 at halftime, they advanced through the quarterfinals by defeating Germany 3–2. The United States then defeated Brazil 2–0 to reach the final.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Route to the final
China reached the knockout stage by winning Group D. They shut out Russia in the quarterfinals, then easily defeated defending champion Norway 5–0 to reach the final.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Match, Summary
The match was played on 10 July 1999, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The United States and China played to a scoreless draw during regulation and golden goal extra time. The United States won the title 5–4 on a penalty shootout. The win gave the United States its second world cup title.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Match, Summary
The game was a tepid affair with neither side getting many chances. Perhaps the best chance for either team to score came in extra time, when China's Fan Yunjie hit a header toward the post that was defended by Kristine Lilly.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Match, Summary
After both teams failed to score, the teams squared off for a shootout to decide the winners of the cup. China shot first, and Xie Huilin scored, only to be matched by the United States' Carla Overbeck. In the second round, Qiu Haiyan's goal was matched by Joy Fawcett.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Match, Summary
Liu Ying was China's third-round shooter, but her shot was saved by United States goalkeeper Briana Scurry. Despite Scurry coming well off her line (a violation that should have resulted in a re-kick for Liu), the save stood. Kristine Lilly then got a shot past Chinese goalkeeper Gao Hong to give the United States the advantage.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Match, Summary
Zhang Ouying, Mia Hamm, and Sun Wen each converted their penalty opportunities, leaving the United States' Brandi Chastain with a shot to win the tournament. She put the ball past Gao, leading to an ecstatic celebration by the Americans, who had clinched the title on home soil.


1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Post-match
The United States became the first team to win two Women's World Cup titles. Brandi Chastain's celebration, which ended with her removing her jersey and revealing her sports bra underneath, appeared on the covers of Sports Illustrated, Time, and various newspapers the following day. The celebration was criticized for being allegedly disrespectful, unfeminine, or inappropriate, but has endured as one of the most iconic moments in women's sports history. Chinese media protested Scurry's save on Liu Ying, accusing her of cheating for stepping ahead of the line before Liu kicked the ball; Scurry confirmed that she did intentionally step over the line, but stated that "everybody does it".