2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup
Al Riyadi from Lebanon, after going undefeated in the entire tournament, won its first ever Fiba Asia Champions Cup title after defeating Mahram Tehran from Iran in the final game. It was the fourth time a club from Lebanon has won the championship.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup
Al-Rayyan from Qatar, on the other hand, finished third in the tournament after defeating Smart Gilas from the Philippines in the third-place game.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Bid
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) originally wanted to host the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, which was the qualifying tournament in Asia for the men's basketball event of the 2012 Summer Olympics, after reports circulated that FIBA was planning to remove the hosting rights of the tournament from Beirut, Lebanon.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Bid
SBP, the national sport association for basketball in the Philippines, lost its bid to host the Asian Championships, and the hosting rights was awarded to Wuhan, China. Nevertheless, FIBA Asia offered the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, the Asian club championship, of the same year to the country. Newly appointed SBP executive director Sonny Barrios, who replaced Noli Eala, said that he considers the hosting of the 22nd FIBA Asia Champions Cup as one of his priorities as SBP's top executive. Barrios, a former commissioner of the Philippine Basketball Association, said that, “The name of the country is at stake here so we have to make sure that everything runs smoothly.”


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Bid
It was the third time that the Philippines hosted the event. The last FIBA Asia event that the country hosted was the 2005 FIBA Asia Champions Cup. In welcoming the country as the host of the tournament, FIBA Asia president Sheikh Saud bin Ali Al-Thani of Qatar said that, "The 2011 calendar could not have gotten to a better start than with an event in the Philippines, where basketball is almost a religion." The country last won the club championship in 1996 when Hapee Toothpaste defeated Japanese basketball club Isuzu Lynx.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Venue
Former SBP executive director Noli Eala announced that the venue for the FIBA Asia Champions Cup  in 2011 would be the Philsports Arena in Pasig, Manila, Philippines. The arena, which is located inside the PhilSports Complex, is maintained by the Philippine Sports Commission, a government-run organization aimed at developing sports in the country.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Venue
The arena enjoys a rich basketball tradition having been the venue of most of the games of the Philippine Basketball Association, the first and oldest professional basketball league in Asia and the oldest in the world outside the U.S., from 1985 to 1992 and from 1999 to 2002. Further, it also hosted the majority of the games in the elimination round of the basketball tournaments of the 2010–11 season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Venue
In January 2011, FIBA Asia deputy secretary general Hagop Khajirian along with SBP president Manuel V. Pangilinan inspected the venue.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Qualification
Ten professional basketball clubs from the Asian region competed in the annual tournament. All of the five FIBA Asia sub-zones had one automatic berth each. The Philippines were represented by Smart Gilas, the country's Philippine national team, as part of the club's preparations for the FIBA Asia Championship of the same year. Smart Gilas was joined by nine other teams from West Asia, Middle Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Gulf.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Qualification
For the participating clubs teams from the Gulf sub-zone, Al Shabab and Al-Rayyan were representing United Arab Emirates and Qatar, respectively. A club from the Middle Asia sub-zone was also invited to participate in the tournament. But due to financial reasons, the invited teams from Kazakhstan and Afghanistan begged off from the tournament. FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2011 organizing committee chairman Aboy Castro said that a replacement club from India, which is also bracketed under the Middle Asia sub-zone  by FIBA Asia, has already been contacted. However, India withdrew from participating in the tournament.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Qualification
Initially, the East Asia sub-zone was supposed to be represented by a club from Japan. FIBA Asia deputy secretary general Hagop Khajirian, at the tournament's group draw, reported that a top Japanese club from the BJ League would participate in the Asia Champions Cup this year. Khajirian said that they were waiting for either the Ryukyu Golden Kings or Rizing Fukuoka to confirm their participation. However, the Japan Basketball Association withdrew from the tournament, prompting the organizers to invite a replacement from the Korean Basketball League. Afterwards, South Korea declined the invitation to participate in the event.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Qualification, Wild cards
Two wild cards were determined by FIBA Asia as Korea and India failed to confirm their participation in the tournament. The spots for the two countries were filled in by Duhok of Iraq and Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia. FIBA Asia secretary general Dato Yeoh Choo Hock, explaining the wild cards, said that, "Our aim is to have a fairly balanced and completely competitive event. In the past too, we have given similar wild cards keeping mind the need for a competitive event."


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Qualification, WABA Super League
Four teams were eligible to qualify from the West Asia Basketball Association Champions Cup, which is the West Asian basketball club championship. Lebanese basketball team Al-Riyadi, who placed third in both 2008 and 2009 editions of the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, and Syrian club Al Jalaa have qualified by just entering the semifinals of the 2011 WABA Super League. Even though Al-Jalaa did not show up to play the fifth game of the WABA finals in 2011, the club was still allowed to participate in the year's Champions Cup. However, the team was penalized with a two-year ban from playing in the WABA Champions Cup and was also fined US$30,000.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Qualification, WABA Super League
Two-time defending FIBA Asia Champions Cup winner Mahram Tehran defeated Zob Ahan in their battle for third place to qualify as the team from Iran. ASU, on the other hand, beat Al Riyadi Aramex in the qualifying game to identify the Jordanian representative to the tournament.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Qualification, ASEAN Basketball League
In March 2011, FIBA Asia secretary general Dato Yeoh Choo Hock announced that the Chang Thailand Slammers, the 2010–11 ASEAN Basketball League champions, would represent the South East Asia sub-zone in the event. However, the Basketball Association of Thailand got suspended, prohibiting the team from participating in any FIBA-sanctioned event. This led ABL CEO Kuhan Foo and FIBA Asia to replace the Slammers with the Westports KL Dragons, ranked third in the ABL, for the year's Champions Cup.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Qualification, ASEAN Basketball League
To prepare for the tournament, the Malaysian players of the KL Dragons competed as a team in the 17th Father Martin Cup, a pre-season collegiate basketball tournament in the Philippines. KL Dragons assistant coach Ariel Vanguardia was also named head coach of the team for the Champions Cup as Goh Heng Chuat, who coaches the team in the ABL, is busy preparing the Malaysia national basketball team for the 2011 Southeast Asia Basketball Association tournament and the 2011 Southeast Asian Games.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Qualification, Qualified teams
* Note: For the East Asia sub-zone, Japan withdrew from the event as they were still recovering from the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Korea also turned down the invitation to participate in the event. Japan's original slot was later awarded to Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia. For the middle Asia sub-zone, its slot was awarded to Duhok of Iraq after Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, and India all begged off from the tournament.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Group draw
The draw was held on April 15, 2011 at the Discovery Suites Hotel, Pasig. FIBA Asia deputy secretary general Hagop Khajirian conducted the draw along with SBP president Manny Pangilinan, SBP executive director Sonny Barrios, and former FIBA Asia secretary general Mauricio C. Martelino. The qualified basketball clubs were divided into two groups of five.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Squads
All 10 participating clubs for the 2011 Fiba Asia Champions Cup had 15 players on their rosters. Each team was allowed to tap two imports to reinforce their squads.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the tournament was held on May 27, 2011 at the Meralco multi-purpose hall in Pasig. The participating teams from West Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Gulf regions attended the welcome dinner where the Filipino culture dominated the theme of the ceremony. The guests were entertained by Filipino folk dances during the event, and were served Filipino dishes.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Preliminary round
For the preliminary round, 10 teams were drawn into two groups composing of five teams each. The clubs played against all the other teams in their respective groups. The top four teams from each group advanced to the knockout stage. The two teams that finished last in their groups played against each other for the ninth place.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Statistical leaders
The top ten of the five statistics are shown below.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Tournament officials
Through the tournament's official website, FIBA Asia named the referees and commissioners that will officiate the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2011. Below are the technical officials for the entire tournament:


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Media, Broadcasting rights
The FIBA Asia Champions Cup was aired on Philippine VHF television network Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation via Sports5. In April 2011, Sports5, the sports division of TV5, signed a blocktime agreement with IBC-13 to air live sports coverage via AKTV, a primetime block that airs local and international sports events.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Media, Event website
In May 2011, FIBA Asia announced that the official site of the tournament has gone live online. The website has all the information about the event such as its overview, rosters, and system of competition. In addition, the website also features real-time updates as well as news, live game results, and interviews.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Media, Live streaming
The organizers announced in June 2011 that all of the final round games of the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2011 will be streamed live on FIBAtv.com and FIBAAsiaTV.com. The highlights of all these games will also be available in the tournament's official website.


2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup squads
The following is the list of squads for each of the 10 clubs competing in the 2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, held in Pasig, Philippines between May 28 to June 5, 2011. Final squads are subject to the approval of the event's technical committee. Each club has 15 players for the competition including a prerogative to tap two imports for their teams. A number of former National Basketball Association players and draftees such as Samaki Walker, Marcus Douthit, and Loren Woods, to name a few, will compete in the tournament.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship
The 2011 FIBA Asia Championship for Men is the intercontinental championship for basketball organized by FIBA Asia that doubles as a qualifying tournament for the men's basketball tournament of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, United Kingdom. The tournament was held in 15–25 September 2011 at Wuhan, Hubei, China. Lebanon was the original host for the event. Team China won the tournament, defeating Jordan 70–69 in the final. It was the first time in the history of FIBA Asia Championship that the title was won by just one single point.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship, Qualification
According to the FIBA Asia rules, each zone had two berths, and the host nation China and FIBA Asia Stanković Cup champions Lebanon were automatically qualified. The other four places are allocated to the zones according to performance in the 2010 FIBA Asia Stanković Cup. Therefore, with Lebanon, Japan, Qatar and the Philippines finishing in the top four in that tournament, West Asia, East Asia, the Gulf and Southeast Asia were all given one additional qualifying berth per zone.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship, Qualification
Among qualified teams from 2009, Sri Lanka did not qualify in the tournament, while Kazakhstan and Kuwait did not participate. The three returning teams are Bahrain, which qualified in 2009 but withdrew, Syria which did not participate in 2009, and Malaysia which last participated in 2005.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship, Draw
The draw was held on July 6 at Wuhan. The four semifinalists of the 2010 FIBA Asia Stanković Cup of the last year were seeded into four different groups, and the draw decided which group each of them will figure. Then one Middle Asia was drawn into Group A, the other Middle Asia into B, Indonesia and United Arab Emirates into C and D. The next four were Malaysia, Chinese Taipei, Syria and Bahrain in order. Finally, hosts China chose Group D, after which Iran, Jordan and Korea were drawn into Group B, C, A, respectively.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship, Draw
The following is the distribution of the pots prior the draw, with teams sorted by their FIBA World Ranking (Bahrain is unranked); teams from each pot cannot be drawn together.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship, Draw
Middle Asia – SAARC*Middle Asia – Stans* Indonesia (63) United Arab Emirates (67)


2011 FIBA Asia Championship, Venues
Two arenas in Wuhan, Wuhan Gymnasium and Hongshan Gymnasium, were used in the championship. Wuhan Gymnasium was the primary venue.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship, Squads
Each team has a roster of twelve players. Only one naturalized player per team is allowed by FIBA.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship for Women
The 2011 FIBA Asia Championship for Women was the qualifying tournament for FIBA Asia at the women's basketball tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics at London. The tournament was held in Omura, Japan from August 21 to August 28.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship for Women
The championship was divided into two levels: Level I and Level II. The two lowest finishers of Level I met the top two finishers of Level II to determine which teams qualified for the top Level of the 2013 Championship. The losers were relegated to Level II.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship for Women, Squads
Each team had a roster of maximum twelve players. Only one naturalized player per team was allowed by FIBA.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship for Women, Qualifying round
Winners are promoted to Level I for the 2013 championships.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship for Women squads
These are the team rosters of the 16 teams competing in the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship for Women.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship qualification
The 2011 FIBA Asia Championship qualification was held in late 2010 and early 2011 with the Gulf region, West Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Middle Asia (Central Asia and South Asia) each conducting tournaments.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship qualification, East Asia
The 2011 East Asia Basketball Championship is the qualifying tournament for the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship. It also serves as a regional championship involving East Asian basketball teams. the three best teams excluding China qualifies for 2011 FIBA Asia Championship. The tournament was held from June 10 to 15, 2011 in Nanjing, China.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship qualification, Gulf
The 12th Gulf Basketball Championship is the qualifying tournament for the FIBA Asia Championship 2011. it also serves as a regional championship. the three best teams qualifies for FIBA Asia Championship 2011.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship qualification, Middle Asia – SAARC
The 2011 Middle Asia qualifying tournament for SAARC teams was held from July 13 to 15, 2011 in New Delhi, India. The best team qualifies for 2011 FIBA Asia Championship.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship qualification, Middle Asia – Stans
The 2011 Middle Asia qualifying tournament for ‘Stans’ section of the Middle Asia was held on July 31, 2011 in Navoiy, Uzbekistan. The best team qualifies for 2011 FIBA Asia Championship. Afghanistan was supposed to play in this tournament but Uzbekistan's foreign ministry did not authorize the visas to travel to the tournament.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship qualification, Southeast Asia
The 2011 Southeast Asia Basketball Association Championship is the qualifying tournament for the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship; it also serves as a regional championship involving Southeast Asian basketball teams. It was held on June 23 to June 26, 2011 at Jakarta, Indonesia. The top three finishers qualifies to the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship qualification, West Asia
The 2011 WABA Championship is the qualifying tournament for the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship. It also serves as a regional championship involving West Asian basketball teams. the three best teams qualifies for 2011 FIBA Asia Championship. The tournament was held from June 23 to 25, 2011 in Duhok, Iraq.


2011 FIBA Asia Championship squads
These are the team rosters of the 16 teams competing in the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship.


2011 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship
The 2011 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship was the qualifying tournament for FIBA Asia at the Under-17 World Championship 2012 .The tournament was held in Nha Trang, Vietnam from October 18 to October 28. China defeated Korea in the championship to notch their second title, and both the finalists represented FIBA Asia in the 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship in Lithuania.


2011 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship, Qualification
According to the FIBA Asia rules, each zone had two places, and the hosts (Vietnam) and holders (China) were automatically qualified. The other four places are allocated to the zones according to performance in the 2009 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship.


2011 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship, Draw
The draw was held on September 25, 2011 at the Media Conference Room at the Wuhan Sports Center.


2011 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship, Draw
* Iran did not participate in the tournament due to the Vietnamese decision for not granting visa to Iranian players. Vietnamese Basketball Federation offered apology to Iran over failure to send visa for Iranian junior team to join the competition.


2011 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship for Women
The 2011 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship for Women is the qualifying tournament for FIBA Asia at the Under-17 World Championship for Women 2012. The tournament was supposed to be held in Urumqi, China from October 5 to October 12, but was moved to another venue due to unavoidable and unforeseen circumstances. The games were moved to Jinan, China from December 4 to December 11. Japan, notched their maiden title after thrashing Korea in the Championship match.


2011 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship for Women, Qualifying round
Winners are promoted to Level I for the 2013 championships.


2011 FIBA Europe SuperCup Women
The 2011 FIBA Europe SuperCup Women was the third edition of the FIBA Europe SuperCup Women. It was held on 5 October 2011 at the Pabellón de Wurzburg in Salamanca, Spain.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship
The 2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship was the 25th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. 16 teams featured in the competition, which was held in the Czech Republic, from July 28 to August 7. Croatia won the title for the third time, and the second in a row.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, Group stages, Preliminary round
In this round, the sixteen teams are allocated in four groups of four teams each. The top three advanced to the Qualifying Round. The last team of each group played for the 13th–16th place in the Classification Games.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, Group stages, Qualifying Round
The twelve teams remaining were allocated in two groups of six teams each. The four top teams advanced to the quarterfinals. The last two teams of each group played for the 9th–12th place.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, Group stages, Classification Round
The last teams of each group in the Preliminary Round competed in this Classification Round. The four teams played in one group. The last two teams were relegated to Division B for the next season.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, Final standings
Lovre Bašić, Ivan Jukić, Paolo Marinelli, Domagoj Bošnjak, Mario Hezonja, Karlo Žganec, Dorian Jelenek, Tomislav Gabrić, Leon Tomić, Marko Arapović, Ivan Bender, Bruno Žganec


2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship Division C
The 2011 FIBA U16 European Championship Division C was held in Serravalle, San Marino, from 12 to 17 July 2011. Six teams participated in the competition.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women
The 2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women was the 23rd edition of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women. 16 teams participated in the competition, held in Cagliari, Italy, from 11 to 21 August 2011.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women, Group stages, Preliminary Round
In this round, the sixteen teams were allocated in four groups of four teams each. The top three qualified for the Qualifying Round. The last team of each group played for the 13th–16th place in the Classification Games.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women, Group stages, Qualifying Round
The twelve teams remaining were allocated in two groups of six teams each. The four top teams advanced to the quarterfinals. The last two teams of each group played for the 9th–12th place.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women, Group stages, Classification Round
The last teams of each group in the Preliminary Round will compete in this Classification Round. The four teams will play in one group. The last two teams will be relegated to Division B for the next season.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women Division B
The 2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women Division B was the 8th edition of the Division B of the European basketball championship for women's national under-16 teams. It was played in Arad, Romania, from 11 to 21 August 2011. Germany women's national under-16 basketball team won the tournament.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women Division B, Group stages, Preliminary round
In this round, the sixteen teams were allocated in four groups of four teams each. The top three qualified for the next round. The last team of each group played for the 13th–16th place in the classification games.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women Division B, Group stages, Qualifying Round
The twelve teams remaining were allocated in two groups of six teams each. The four top teams advanced to the quarterfinals. The last two teams of each group played for the 9th–12th place.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women Division B, Group stages, Classification Round
The last teams of each group in the Preliminary Round will compete in this Classification Round. The three teams will play in one group. The last two teams will be relegated to Division C for the next season.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women Division C
The 2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women Division C was the 7th edition of the Division C of the FIBA U16 Women's European Championship, the third tier of the European women's under-16 basketball championship. It was played in Andorra la Vella, Andorra, from 25 to 30 July 2011. Andorra women's national under-16 basketball team won the tournament.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship
The 2011 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was the 28th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. 16 teams featured the competition, held in Poland from July 21–31. Lithuania were the defending champion. Spain won their third title.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, Group stages, Preliminary Round
In this round, the sixteen teams were allocated in four groups of four teams each. The top three advanced to the Qualifying Round. The last team of each group played for the 13th–16th place in the Classification Games.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, Group stages, Qualifying Round
The twelve teams remaining were allocated in two groups of six teams each. The four top teams advance to the quarterfinals. The last two teams of each group played for the 9th–12th place.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, Group stages, Classification Round
The last teams of each group in the Preliminary Round competed in this Classification Round. The four teams played in one group. The last two teams were relegated to Division B for the next season.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B
The 2011 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B was an international basketball  competition held in Bulgaria in 2011.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division C
The 2011 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division C was the 8th edition of the Division C of the FIBA U18 European Championship, the third tier of the European men's under-18 basketball championship. It was played in Serravalle, San Marino, from 19 to 23 July 2011. Wales men's national under-18 basketball team won the tournament.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship for Women
The 2011 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship for Women will be the 28th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship for Women. 16 teams featured the competition, held in Romania from August 4–14. Italy is the defending champion.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship for Women, Group stages, Preliminary Round
In this round, the sixteen teams are allocated in four groups of four teams each. The top three qualify for the Qualifying Round. The last team of each group play for the 13th–16th place in the Classification Games.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship for Women, Qualifying Round
The twelve teams remaining will be allocated in two groups of six teams each. The four top teams advance to the quarterfinals. The last two teams of each group play for the 9th–12th place.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship for Women, Classification Round
The last teams of each group in the Preliminary Round will compete in this Classification Round. The four teams will play in one group. The last two teams will be relegated to Division B for the next season.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship
The 2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship was the 14th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The competition featured 16 teams, held in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain from July 14–24. Spain became a champion for the first time.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, Group stages, Preliminary round
In this round, the sixteen teams are allocated in four groups of four teams each. The top three will advance to the Qualifying Round. The last team of each group will play for the 13th–16th place in the Classification Games.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, Group stages, Qualifying Round
The twelve teams remaining will be allocated in two groups of six teams each. The four top teams advance to the quarterfinals. The last two teams of each group play for the 9th–12th place.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, Group stages, Classification Round
The last teams of each group in the Preliminary Round will compete in this Classification Round. The four teams will play in one group. The last two teams will be relegated to Division B for the next season.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship for Women
The 2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship for Women was the 10th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship for Women. 16 teams featured the competition, held in Serbia from July 7–17. Spain won the championship.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship for Women, Preliminary round
In this round, the sixteen teams were allocated in four groups of four teams each. The top three qualified for the Qualifying Round. The last team of each group played for the 13th–16th place in the Classification Games.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship for Women, Qualifying Round
The twelve teams remaining will be allocated in two groups of six teams each. The four top teams advance to the quarterfinals. The last two teams of each group play for the 9th–12th place.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship for Women, Classification Round
The last teams of each group in the Preliminary Round will compete in this Classification Round. The four teams will play in one group. The last two teams will be relegated to Division B for the next season.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship for Women Division B
The 2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship for Women Division B was the seventh edition of the Division B of the Women's European basketball championship for national under-20 teams. It was held in Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia, from 8 to 17 July 2011. Sweden women's national under-20 basketball team won the tournament.


2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship for Women Division B, First round
In the first round, the teams were drawn into two groups. The first four teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals, the other teams will play in the classification round for 9th to 11th place.


2011 FIBA Oceania Championship
The 2011 FIBA Oceania Championship for Men was the 20th edition of the tournament. The tournament featured a three-game series between Australia and New Zealand. Game one was held in Melbourne followed by the second game in Brisbane and game three in Sydney, Australia.


2011 FIBA Oceania Championship for Women
The 2011 FIBA Oceania Championship for Women was the 14th edition of the tournament. The tournament featured a three-game series between Australia and New Zealand. Game one was held in Melbourne followed by the second game in Brisbane and game three in Sydney, Australia.


2011 FIBA Oceania Championship squads
These are the team rosters of the 2 teams competing for the 2011 FIBA Oceania Championship.


2011 FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup
The 2011 FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup, or 2011 FIBA Mini World Cup, officially called Dongfeng Yueda KIA FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup 2011, were the 7th and 8th annual FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup tournaments. They were held as two separate round-robin tournaments, in Haining and Guangzhou, from August 1 to 9.


2011 FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup, Haining Tournament, Matches - Final stage
- 4 AUG (Third-place Playoff) -  Russia -  China 50:49


2011 FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup, Guangzhou Tournament, Matches - Final stage
- 9 AUG (Third-place Playoff) -  China -  Angola 64:54


2011 FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup, Guangzhou Tournament, Matches - Final stage
- 9 AUG (Final) -  New Zealand -  Russia 80:77


2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship
The 2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Latvian: 2011. gada FIBA pasaules čempionāts līdz 19 gadu vecumam)was hosted by Latvia from June 30 to July 10, 2011. The draw for the Championship took place on February 17, 2011 in Riga. Teams played a round robin schedule, with the top three teams advancing to the knockout stage. Lithuania became the champion. Lithuanian captain Jonas Valančiūnas was chosen the tournament MVP.


2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship, Venues
Below is a list of the venues which were used to host games during the 2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship. All games of a preliminary round group were held in a single arena, as well as the games in the knockout round.


2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship, Draw
The draw held on February 17 divided the qualified teams into four groups named A, B, C, and D, as listed for the preliminary round. Aside from the fact that those teams in the same pot would not be in the same preliminary round groups, there were restrictions on how teams may be drawn. Before the draw was aware that Latvia will not be the same group with Lithuania, who will play in Liepāja. In addition to the FIBA wanted the first stage in each city to play over the three European teams, which meant that Russia should play a sample set of Valmiera groups.


2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Women
The 2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Women was hosted by Chile from July 21 to July 31, 2011. The draw for the Championship took place on March 18, 2011 in Puerto Montt. Teams played a round robin schedule, with the top four teams of the eighth-final four advancing to the knockout stage.


2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Women
Nigeria did not turn up for the tournament, so the championship just consisted of 15 teams.


2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Women, Venues
Below is a list of the venues which were used to host games during the 2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Women.


2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Women, Group stage, Group C
Nigeria withdrew from the tournament, the other teams of the group were given a 20–0 win.


2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or
The 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala was the second year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards were given out in Zürich on 9 January 2012, with Lionel Messi claiming the title of world player of the year for the third time in a row.


2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or
The gala ceremony was hosted by former Ballon d'Or winner Ruud Gullit and broadcast journalist Kay Murray of Real Madrid TV and Fox Soccer Channel, with singer-songwriter James Blunt and his band providing musical entertainment.


2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or, Winners and nominees, FIFA Ballon d'Or
The top three nominees for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or were:


2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or, Winners and nominees, FIFA Ballon d'Or
The following 20 men were also in contention for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2011:


2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or, Winners and nominees, FIFA Women's World Player of the Year
The top three nominees for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year were:


2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or, Winners and nominees, FIFA Women's World Player of the Year
The following seven women were also in contention for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year:


2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or, Controversy
The day after the awards ceremony, Spanish newspaper Marca reported that none of the four captains of the Spanish women's national team had voted for the Women's World Player of the Year award. According to the list of votes published by FIFA, captain Sandra Vilanova had awarded five points to Hope Solo, three to Louisa Nécib and one to Marta.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
The 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was the sixth edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, governed by FIFA. Overall, this was the 16th edition of a world cup in beach soccer since the establishment of the Beach Soccer World Championships which ran from 1995–2004 but was not governed by FIFA. It took place at the Stadio del Mare (Stadium of the Sea), a temporary stadium at the Marina di Ravenna in Ravenna, Italy, the third tournament to take place outside Brazil, which started on September 1 and ended on September 11, 2011. However this was the first tournament to take place under the new two year basis; now the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup takes place once every two years. The tournament was confirmed in March 2010.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
Brazil were the defending champions, after winning their fourth FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup title in 2009. The tournament was won by Russia, winning their first title in their first final after beating Brazil.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Qualifying rounds, African Zone
The African qualifiers took place between June 15 and June 19, 2011, in Casablanca, Morocco, for the first time. The competition took place between nine teams, the same number of teams who competed in the previous championship. Not surprisingly, Senegal and Nigeria were the eventual qualifying nations, after beating Egypt and surprise semi-finalists Madagascar respectively to reach the final. Senegal were the winners of the competition, beating Nigeria 7-4 in the final.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Qualifying rounds, Asian Zone
The Asian qualifiers took place in Muscat, Oman, for the first time, between February 27 and March 4, 2011. Beach Soccer Worldwide and FIFA decided on holding the tournament there, due to the success of the 2010 Asian Beach Games, also held there. A record eleven teams participated, an increase on the previous record of seven teams in 2009. Japan clinched their second successive championship title, after beating hosts Oman in the final who will play at the World Cup for the first time. Iran won the third-place play off against the United Arab Emirates to qualify for their fourth World Cup appearance, whilst the United Arab Emirates have failed to qualify to the World Cup, after hosting the competition in 2009.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Qualifying rounds, European Zone
The European qualifiers took place in Bibione, Italy from 11–18 July 2010, with 27 teams participating for four European berths. The surprising winners of the qualifiers, Ukraine, qualified along with runners-up Portugal, third-place Russia and fourth-place Switzerland. Only the semi-finalists qualified to the World Cup, meaning that Spain, who won the qualifiers in 2008, have failed to make the finals in Ravenna, meaning that this World Cup will be the first time Spain have not competed in twelve World Cups, since 1997. 2005 World Cup winners France have also failed to qualify, making it two World Cups in a row France have failed to qualify for.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Qualifying rounds, North, Central American and Caribbean Zone
The CONCACAF qualifiers were played between 8 nations, an increase from last year's 6, for the first time, between 1–5 December 2010, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for the third year in a row, seeing Jamaica return after four years and newcomers Guatemala joining the tournament. However, inevitably, the qualifiers were fought out between the strongest four nations in CONCACAF: El Salvador, Costa Rica, Mexico and the United States, who met in the semi-finals of the tournament, clearly dominating as a 'big four' force.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Qualifying rounds, North, Central American and Caribbean Zone
However, only the finalists could qualify for the World Cup, which led to two dramatic semi-final games which saw both matches go to penalty shootouts. In the end, it was El Salvador and Mexico who qualified, after tense 3-3 and 1-1 draws against Costa Rica and the United States respectively.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Qualifying rounds, North, Central American and Caribbean Zone
The qualifying nations eventually went through on penalties, 2-1 and 1-0 respectively, meaning that El Salvador qualify for the World Cup consecutively after putting out Costa Rica, who qualified last year, whilst Mexico qualify after a two-year absence from the World Cup, meaning the United States have now failed to qualify since 2007. Mexico were favourites from CONCACAF in Ravenna after beating El Salvador in the final of the qualifiers. The United States finished third after beating Costa Rica in the third place play off.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Qualifying rounds, Oceanian Zone
The OFC qualifiers took place from 23–26 February 2011 in Papeete, Tahiti, the place where the 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup will be held. This was the third time the island hosted the qualifiers following 2006 and 2009, but the first in Papeete, as it had been held in Moorea previously. Once again, Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Tahiti competed however Vanuatu were forced to withdraw due to being stranded at their airport because of a cyclone that had passed through the area. Despite the Solomon Islands looking the dominant team, winning both their games in the group stage, they lost to hosts Tahiti in the final, meaning for the first time since the qualifiers began in 2006, the Solomon Islands will not be competing in the World Cup.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Qualifying rounds, South American Zone
The CONMEBOL qualifiers were originally scheduled to take place from 7–14 May 2011, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. However the tournament was rescheduled and took place from 31 July to 7 August. For the fourth consecutive tournament, Brazil won the championship, after beating Argentina in the final, 6-2. Since both these nations reached the final, this also means that they both qualify for the fourth year in a row.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Qualifying rounds, South American Zone
The surprise of the tournament saw Uruguay crash out at the group stage of the tournament, meaning for the first time since the World Cup's inception in 1995, Uruguay will not be competing, leaving Brazil as the sole nation to have competed in every World Cup to date. With Uruguay's absence from the knockout stage, this allowed Venezuela to claim victory over surprise semi-finalists Colombia, to qualify for their third World Cup, after their last appearance in 2001.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Qualifying rounds, Hosts
Italy qualified automatically as the hosts, although they still competed in the European qualifiers, being knocked out in the round of 16.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Teams
These are the teams that have qualified for the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup:


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Venue
Only one venue was used in the city of Ravenna during the World Cup which has been called the Stadio del Mare or the Stadium of the Sea, in English. The Stadium was built as a temporary structure, primarily built to host the World Cup however the stadium also hosted the third stage of the 2011 Euro Beach Soccer League, to promote beach soccer in the area before the start of the World Cup.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Referees
FIFA chose 25 officials to referee the matches. From the 25 referees, at least one referee representing each confederation; four from the AFC, three from CAF, five from CONMEBOL, three from CONCACAF, one from the OFC and eight from UEFA, with all 25 officials being from different countries. The referees were revealed in August 2011.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Final draw
The draw to divide the 16 teams in four groups of four was conducted on 5 July 2011 in Rome, Italy, which was conducted by FIFA Beach Soccer Committee members Joan Cuscó and Jaime Yarza. 1998 FIFA World Cup winner Christian Karembeu and beach soccer legend, Ramiro Figueiras Amarelle assisted the draw.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Final draw
The sixteen teams were placed into four pots of four teams. One team from each pot was placed into each respective group A, B, C and D, with the hosts being chosen first to play in group A.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Squads
As with previous tournaments, each nations' squad consists of a total of 12 players; only these players were eligible to play in the World Cup. On 25 August 2011, the squad lists for the 16 teams were announced, consisting of a total of 192 players who will be participating in the World Cup. Brazil have the oldest squad, with an average age of 31, whilst Nigeria have the youngest squad with an average age of 22.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Group stage
The group stage commenced on September 1 and concluded on September 6, with Argentina against Oman being the opening match of the competition.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Group stage
All kickoff times are listed as local time in Ravenna (UTC+2).


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Final
The 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Final was the last match of the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup which took place on September 11, 2011 at the Stadio del Mare, in the Italian city of Ravenna. The final took place between Russia, who were taking place in their first ever final and defending champions Brazil, who were playing in their fourteenth final, aiming to win their fourteenth title. The result of the match saw Russia claim the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup crown, winning their first ever title and becoming only the third team other than Brazil to win the World Cup.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Final, Roads to the final, Russia
Russia began their World Cup campaign in Group C alongside Nigeria, Tahiti and Venezuela, as European Champions after winning the 2011 Euro Beach Soccer League. Having finished third in the European World Cup qualifiers in July 2010, as well as playing in a group with two surprise nations, who not only were not expected to qualify but had never even competed in a FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup before, quickly made Russia one of the favourites of the competition.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Final, Roads to the final, Russia
Russia's first match came against Nigeria, who pundits thought would be the only nation to pose any sort of threat to Russia's predicted dominance in the group. Despite Nigeria's enthusiasm and athleticism, Russia were eventual victors, scoring twice as many goals as their opponents, winning 8-4. Their second match in the group stage came against Tahiti. The Oceanian side defeated regular World Cup participants the Solomon Islands in qualifying to compete in their first ever World Cup, making Russia odds on favourites to win the match, regardless of Tahiti's surprise win against Venezuela in the first round of matches.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Final, Roads to the final, Russia
As expected, Russia controlled the game and steered to a 5-0 victory, ensuring qualification for the quarter finals. In Russia's final match, they met Venezuela who had already been eliminated from the competition. In an exhibition style performance from both sides, Russia claimed all three points, therefore taking their total to a maximum total of nine points, finishing first in the group.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Final, Roads to the final, Russia
Having finished first in Group C, Russia met the runners-up of Group D, Mexico in the quarter finals. Having won the North American qualifiers back in December 2010, as well as having finished in second place in the World Cup of 2007, Mexico went into the quarter finals against Russia, evenly matched. However this was not to be the case. Russia never found themselves behind in the match and went on to win 5-3 to progress to their first ever World Cup semi final.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Final, Roads to the final, Russia
By far the biggest shock in the competition, it would be El Salvador who would play Russia in the semi finals. The Central American's, who up until now had never even won a game at a World Cup, had beaten Oman and Argentina in the Group Stage and had even beaten hosts and European giants Italy in the quarter finals to reach this stage, making Russia huge favourites to reach the final. In spite of El Salvador's efforts, Russia prevailed in a straightforward semi final, winning 7-3, moving on to play in their first ever FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup final.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Final, Roads to the final, Brazil
Brazil started their World Cup campaign in Group D alongside Mexico, Ukraine and Japan, as reigning World Champions as well as being considered the best team in the world, having won the last four FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups and having scored a huge 56 goals in 6 games during qualifying. Brazil were by far the favourites to win a fifth consecutive title.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Final, Roads to the final, Brazil
Brazil's first match was against the surprise champions of the European qualifiers, Ukraine. Despite having beaten the likes of Switzerland and Portugal to win the European qualifiers, many believed it was a stroke of luck that Ukraine were champions of the tournament and therefore it was expected that they would struggle against Brazil. However this was not the case.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Final, Roads to the final, Brazil
Ukraine, playing a very defensive game, taking Brazil to a penalty shootout after a 3-3 draw after extra time, but ultimately, after a fantastic performance by Ukraine and an average performance by Brazil, the South American's won the penalty shootout 2-1, taking 2 points away from the game. It was the first time since 2007 that Brazil had been taken past normal time. Brazil's second game was against Mexico. Again, Brazil's performance was below par however their quality was still enough to win the game, 5-2, which all but secured a place in the quarter finals.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Final, Roads to the final, Brazil
The final round of matches saw Brazil take on already eliminated Japan. Although Japan had been convincingly beaten by both Mexico and Ukraine, Brazil once again struggled to dominate as they have dominated games in the past and scraped to a 3-2 victory, finishing top of the group on 8 points.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Final, Roads to the final, Brazil
Having finished first in Group D, Brazil met the runners-up of Group C, Nigeria in the quarter finals. Having finished second behind Senegal in the African qualifiers, plus having failed to beat giants Russia in the Group stage, it was thought unlikely that Nigeria could pose any threat to Brazil. Nevertheless, Brazil's lack of form gave confidence to Nigeria who, in a stunning game, drew the game level at 8 goals all in the final minutes, taking Brazil to extra time; the first time in history that Brazil had been taken to extra time twice in a World Cup.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Final, Roads to the final, Brazil
Brazil scored two goals in extra time to win 10-8 and move into the semi finals. For the third tournament in a row, Brazil met Portugal in the semi finals. With Brazil's mediocre performances, many believed that Portugal could put an end to Brazil's winning streak of 28 World Cup games. Having already played 4 games, Brazil finally found form when they needed to, coming through to beat their old rivals 4-1 to set up another World Cup final.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Final, Roads to the final, Summary, Comparison
Russia finished the Group Stage after 3 conclusive wins, taking a maximum 9 points away from the games, scoring 20 goals and conceding just 7 to have a positive goal difference of 13. On the other hand, the usually dominant Brazil found themselves having 8 points on the board for the first time since 2007, scoring a record low 11 goals, conceding 7, leaving Brazil on a positive goal difference of 4, after some very average games. Despite Brazil's performances, they were still favourites in the final due to there experience in World Cup finals.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Final, Match details
Assistant referees:Istvan Meszaros (Hungary)Ruben Eiriz (Spain)Timekeeper:Javier Bentancor (Uruguay)Fifth official:Oscar Velasquez (El Salvador)


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup disciplinary record
In the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup the main disciplinary action taken against players comes in the form of red and yellow cards.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup disciplinary record
Any player picking up a red card is expelled from the pitch and automatically banned for his country's next match, whether via a straight red or second yellow.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup disciplinary record, Sanctions, By match
Note: In this table the "Yellow" column counts only the first yellow card given to a player in a match. If a player receives a second yellow in the same match this is counted under "Second yellow"


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup goal scorers
The 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is an international beach soccer tournament being held in Ravenna, Italy from 1 September until 11 September 2011. This page lists all of the players that have scored at least one goal during the tournament.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup goal scorers
Goals scored during the penalty kick session after an extra time period do not count toward a player's individual goal total.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (UEFA)
The 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualifiers for UEFA was a beach soccer tournament played in Bibione, Italy from July 11–18, 2010, which determined the four teams that qualified to the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Ravenna, Italy. All matches were played at a temporary stadium on the beach at Piazzale Zenith in Bibione. The draw for the group stage of the competition was made at the end of June, 2010.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (UEFA)
The nations who reached the semi-finals of the tournament achieved qualification for the world cup who were Russia, Ukraine, Switzerland and Portugal. This meant that Spain, who won the 2008 qualifying championship and who came second in 2009, did not even manage to qualify from this year's event for the next world cup, meaning the 2011 world cup will be the first time Spain have not competed in 12 world cups, since the 1997 Beach Soccer World Cup. The overall winners of the tournament, and surprise winners were Ukraine.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (UEFA)
By the end of the tournament, over 82,000 people had attended the games at Piazzale Zenith, and over 200,000 people watched the games online.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (UEFA), Participating teams
27 teams confirmed their participation in the competition, the highest ever amount for a world cup qualifier, with several newcomers, showing the ever growing popularity of the sport:


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (UEFA), Group stage
The 27 teams were drawn into 6 groups of 4 teams and one group of 3 teams. The group games took place over a period of three days. The top two teams in the groups automatically qualified for the knockout stage of the tournament. Then, the two best performing teams who finished third in their group were chosen to play in the knockout stage, to make up the numbers.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (UEFA), Knockout stage
The draw for the knockout stage was made after the preliminary round of games was completed on 13 July. All kickoff times are listed as Italian summer time, (UTC+2).


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup squads
The 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was an international beach soccer tournament held in Ravenna, Italy from 1 September until 11 September 2011. The 16 national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of 12 players; only players in these squads are eligible to take part in the tournament.


2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup squads
The squads were announced one week before the start of the World Cup on 25 August 2011. Overall, 192 players have travelled to Ravenna to play in the World Cup.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup
The 2011 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2011 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament that was played from 8 to 18 December 2011. It was the eighth edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised tournament between the winners of the six continental confederations as well as the host nation's league champions.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup
After the United Arab Emirates hosted the tournament in 2009 and 2010, hosting rights for the 2011 edition returned to Japan. During a visit to Japan on 23 May 2011, FIFA President Sepp Blatter confirmed that Japan would remain as hosts of the tournament despite the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup
Internazionale were the defending champions, but could not defend their title after being eliminated in the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup
The tournament was won by Spanish club Barcelona, who defeated Brazilian club Santos 4–0 in the final.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup, Squads
Each team had to submit a squad of 23 players, three of them goalkeepers.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup, Venues
Yokohama and Toyota were the two cities that served as venues for the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup, Matches
A draw was held on 17 November in Nagoya to decide the "positions" of the three teams entering the quarter-finals: Al-Sadd (AFC), Espérance de Tunis (CAF), and Monterrey (CONCACAF).


2011 FIFA Club World Cup Final
The 2011 FIFA Club World Cup Final was the final match of the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup, an association football tournament hosted by Japan. It was the eighth final of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organized tournament between the winners of the six continental confederations as well as the host nation's league champions.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup Final
The final was played between CONMEBOL's champion Santos and UEFA's champion Barcelona. Barcelona defeated Santos 4–0 and won their second FIFA Club World Cup, two years after they won their first one in 2009.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup Final
The match was billed as a showdown between Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and the 19-year-old Santos forward Neymar. Messi won the "duel" by scoring two goals in the final and being named man of the match as well as player of the tournament.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup Final, Team news
Barcelona forward David Villa missed the final after he broke his shinbone in the semi-final victory over Al-Sadd. He was injured six minutes before half-time after appearing to land awkwardly; Barcelona announced after the match that he had suffered a "fracture to the tibia in his left leg" that could see him sidelined for four to five months.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup Final, Match, Summary
In the first half, Barcelona were extremely dominant. Messi and Thiago forced saves from Santos goalkeeper Rafael Cabral in the 12th minute. Messi then scored with a chip over Cabral in the 17th minute. Seven minutes later, Xavi scored a second with a strike from just inside the penalty area. Santos came back with a short-range effort by Borges that was saved by Barcelona 'keeper Víctor Valdés, before Cesc Fàbregas hit the post two minutes later and then scored Barcelona's third goal just before the half ended.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup Final, Match, Summary
In the second half, Santos improved and teenage star Neymar finally had a chance for Santos in the 57th minute when he was one-on-one with Valdés, but the shot was saved. Barcelona's Dani Alves hit the post in the 79th minute, before Messi rounded the goalkeeper in the 82nd minute to cap the scoring with his second goal.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup Final, Match, Details
Assistant referees:Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (Uzbekistan)Bakhadyr Kochkarov (Kyrgyzstan)Fourth official:Yuichi Nishimura (Japan)Fifth official:Toru Sagara (Japan)


2011 FIFA Club World Cup squads
The 2011 FIFA Club World Cup took place in Toyota and Yokohama, Japan, from 8 December to 18 December 2011. The final 23-man squads had to be submitted by 28 November, with all members of the final squad taken from a provisional list of 30 players. All players were required to be registered with squad numbers between 1 and 23, unless they were registered for their domestic league with a different number.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup squads
In the event of an injury to one of the players on the final list, that player could be replaced with a player from the provisional list no less than 24 hours before his team's first match in the competition. Santos released their preliminary squad on 29 October, which was cut down to 23 on 28 November. Auckland City added their squad on 24 November. Monterrey announced their 2011 FIFA Club World Cup squad on 30 November on their official website.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup squads, Al-Sadd
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup squads, Auckland City
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup squads, Barcelona
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup squads, Espérance
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup squads, Monterrey
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup squads, Santos
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2011 FIFA Club World Cup squads, Kashiwa Reysol
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup
The 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the fourteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, and the eleventh played since the change in age limits from under 16s to Under 17s in 1991. It was held in Mexico with games being played amongst various venues between 18 June and 10 July 2011. Mexico won the Cup, being the first team to achieve it as hosts defeating Uruguay 2–0 and managing their second title in the category.


2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup
It was confirmed by the 58th FIFA Congress in Sydney, Australia that Mexico would be the host, beating other bids from the Czech Republic and Iran.


2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Player eligibility
Only players born on or after 1 January 1994 were eligible to compete in the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup.


2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Venues
After having won the right to host the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Femexfut president, Justino Compéan, stated during an interview from Sydney, Australia, that the Estadio Corona, in Torreón, would be one of the venues, arguing that recently built or invested stadia would have a major preference. He also mentioned Monterrey, Ciudad Juárez, Querétaro, Tijuana, Pachuca and Aguascalientes as other possible venues.


2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Venues
The Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, after having previously hosted major events, such as 1970 and 1986 FIFA World Cup, 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship, 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup and 1968 Summer Olympics Football final matches, hosted the third place match and the final match of the tournament.


2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Teams
In addition to host nation Mexico, 23 nations qualified from 6 separate continental competitions.


2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Group stage
The draw for the group stage took place on 17 May 2011 at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México's Sala Nezahualcóyotl concert Hall. The seeding was as follows:


2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Group stage
The winners and runners-up from each group, as well as the best four third-placed teams, qualified for the first round of the knockout stage (round of 16).


2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Group stage
Where two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria:


2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Group stage
Ranking of third place teams in each group are determined by the following criteria, top four advances to the round of 16:


2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Group stage, Group D
Drawing of lots was used to determine the final positions of the United States and New Zealand, as the two teams finished level on points, goal difference, goals scored, and head-to-head record.


2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Knockout stage
In a rule to avoid potential "player burnout", all games in the knockout stage proceeded straight to penalties if tied after normal time, thus avoiding the need for 30 minutes of extra time.


2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup squads
Each team was required to submit a list of not more than 21 players, of which three were required to be designated as goalkeepers. Only the numbers 1 to 21 were permitted to be used, with the number 1 being assigned one of the designated goalkeepers.


2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup squads
Names in bold went on to earn full international caps.


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup
The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil who claimed their fifth title.


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup
At a FIFA Executive Committee meeting held in Sydney on 26 May 2008, Colombia beat the only other candidate country, Venezuela, for the right to organize the U-20 World Cup. It was suggested by the then-Vice President of Colombia Francisco Santos Calderón that it was needed to withdraw from the race with Brazil to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup so the nation could concentrate on hosting the "best possible games".


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup
In an inspection tour of development works in March 2010, Jack Warner, then the vice president of FIFA, said that the completion of this tournament could provide Colombia with a launch pad to become a possible host for the 2026 World Cup. The official song of the tournament was "Nuestra Fiesta" by Colombian singer Jorge Celedón.


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Venues
The venues that were confirmed on 29 September 2010 are located in Bogotá, Cali, Medellín, Manizales, Armenia, Cartagena, Pereira and Barranquilla.


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Venues
During an announcement about the ticketing procedures for Colombian residents, it was confirmed that the opening game would be held at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla, with the Estadio El Campín hosting the final match.


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Participating teams and officials, Qualification
In addition to host nation Colombia, 23 nations qualified from six separate continental competitions.


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 27 April 2011, at the Julio Cesar Turbay Ayala Convention Centre in Cartagena. The seedings were as follows.


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Group stage
Australia  New Zealand  North Korea  Panama  Saudi Arabia  South Korea


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Group stage
The winners and runners-up from each group, as well as the best four third-placed teams, will qualify for the first round of the knockout stage (round of 16).


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Group stage
Where two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria:


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Group stage
Ranking of third place teams in each group are determined by the following criteria, top four advances to the round of 16:


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Organization
In late 2009 the Colombian Football Federation unveiled the budget for conducting the event, to be COP 150 billion (US$75 million). On 30 September 2009, the presidents of both FIFA and Colombia announced that the logo would show a steaming cup of coffee with the colours of the Colombian tricolour.


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Organization, Opening ceremony
Prior to the start of the tournament, the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla hosted the Opening Ceremony, involving local musical performances and guests including Jorge Celedón, Barranquilla's Carnival Performers, Checo Acosta and Maía.


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Organization, Closing ceremony
The Estadio El Campín in Bogotá hosted the Closing Ceremony. The show was managed by the Ibero-American Theater Festival and Teatro Nacional de Colombia and, like the opening ceremony, included musical performances.


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup squads
As per FIFA regulations, The final team list of the 21 players (with of at least three are goalkeepers) selected to participate in the competition should notify the FIFA general secretariat, at least ten working days (19 July) before the opening match of the final competition.


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup squads
Those marked in bold have been capped at full international level.


2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup squads, Player statistics
The England, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and North Korea squads were made up entirely of players from the respective countries' domestic leagues. Although Italy failed to qualify for the finals, their domestic leagues were represented by 9 players. Altogether, there were 37 national leagues that had players in the tournament.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in October 2007. Japan won the final against the United States on a penalty shoot-out following a 2–2 draw after extra time and became the first Asian team to win a senior FIFA World Cup.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup
The matches were played in nine stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the final played at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt. Sixteen teams were selected for participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that began in 2009. In the first round of the tournament finals, the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These eight teams advanced to the knockout stage, where two rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Host selection
Six nations, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Peru and Switzerland, initially declared their interest in hosting the 2011 Women's World Cup. The German Football Association announced its hopes to host the tournament on 26 January 2006, following a pledge from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to fully support a potential bid. All six nations officially announced their interest by a 1 March 2007 deadline and acknowledged their intention of bidding by 3 May 2007 to FIFA.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Host selection
The final bidding dossiers had to be handed over before 1 August 2007. Switzerland withdrew on 29 May 2007, stating that Europe is heavily focused on France and Germany, and a third European bid appeared futile. On 27 August 2007, France also withdrew, reportedly in exchange for Germany's support for their bid to host the men's UEFA Euro 2016. Later Australia (12 October 2007) and Peru (17 October 2007) voluntarily dropped out of the race as well, leaving only Canada and Germany as the remaining candidates. On 30 October 2007, the FIFA Executive Committee voted to assign the tournament to Germany. Canada was eventually awarded the 2015 Women's World Cup four years later.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Host selection
Upon the selection, Germany became the third country to host both men's and women's World Cup, having hosted the men's twice in 1974 and 2006.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Venues
After the German Football Association (DFB) expressed its intention to bid for the Women's World Cup, 23 German cities applied to host World Cup games. Twelve cities were chosen for the official bidding dossier handed over to FIFA in August 2007. On 30 September 2008, the DFB executive committee decided to use nine stadiums for the tournament; the original candidates Essen, Magdeburg and Bielefeld were not chosen as World Cup venues.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Venues
The official opening game was held between Germany and Canada at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, the venue of the 2006 men's World Cup Final; it was the only match played in Berlin. However, it was not the first match of the tournament—it was preceded by a match at Rhein-Neckar-Arena in Sinsheim pitting France and Nigeria. The final of the tournament took place at the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt, the venue of the 2005 men's Confederations Cup final. Borussia-Park in Mönchengladbach and Frankfurt's Commerzbank-Arena hosted the semi-finals. The third place play-off was held at Rhein-Neckar-Arena.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Venues
Since 2007, five of the stadiums were either newly built (Augsburg, Dresden and Sinsheim) or remodelled (Bochum and Leverkusen). Six stadiums would be home grounds for German First Bundesliga clubs in the upcoming 2011–12 season, while the other three would be home to Second Bundesliga clubs in the same season. Compared to the 2006 men's World Cup, several smaller venues were chosen; six stadiums have a capacity of 20,000 to 30,000 seats. All cities would stage a total of four matches, with the exceptions of Berlin and Mönchengladbach; the latter would host three games. The total capacity of the nine venues is roughly 330,000. Overall, approximately one million tickets would be available.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Venues
Several of the stadiums were officially referred to simply as "FIFA Women's World Cup Stadium" because FIFA prohibited sponsorship of stadiums unless the stadium sponsors were also official tournament sponsors. With no standing-room terraces allowed, all stadiums had a lower total capacity compared to German Bundesliga games. Capacity data is given according to FIFA:


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Teams and qualification, Number of participating teams
FIFA had considered the prospect of increasing the number of teams from 16 to 24, to reflect the growing global popularity of women's football and the Women's World Cup. However, on 14 March 2008, the FIFA Executive Committee decided to keep the number of participants at 16, concerned that more teams would dilute the quality of play. The idea of having 20 teams taking part, which had been discussed briefly, was ruled impossible to implement in terms of fixture planning and logistics.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Teams and qualification, Number of participating teams
During the 2007 Women's World Cup, FIFA president Sepp Blatter had campaigned for the idea to increase the number of teams, although this proposal was not unquestioned. In particular the 11–0 victory of Germany over Argentina in the opening game of the 2007 tournament had caused a debate over whether there were 24 national teams on a comparable level.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Teams and qualification, Confederation allocation
In October 2008, the FIFA Executive Committee announced a change to the allocation of the qualifying berths for its continental confederations. Asia was granted 3 automatic berths instead of 2.5 for the finals (although in 2007 the host nation was an additional qualifier from Asia). Europe's allocation was reduced from 5 to 4.5 (although it effectively increased to 5.5 because of the automatic qualification of the host nation). The North/Central American and Caribbean confederation (CONCACAF) retained their 2.5 qualifiers, Africa and South America 2 each, and Oceania 1. The 16th qualifying spot was determined through a play-off between the third-placed team in CONCACAF and the winner of repechage play-offs in Europe.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Teams and qualification, Confederation allocation
FIFA also ruled that each confederation has to ensure that at least one third of its member associations enter their women's national teams for World Cup qualification, otherwise FIFA would re-examine the current slot allocation. In Africa and the Middle East a considerable percentage of teams had withdrawn from World Cup qualification in the past.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Teams and qualification, Confederation allocation
For European teams, the 2011 Women's World Cup was also used as a qualification tournament for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Besides Team Great Britain, Europe had two additional qualifiers for the Summer Olympics. With Germany losing their quarter-final, France, which had already reached the semi-finals, secured qualification to the Olympics. Sweden followed as UEFA's second team with its win against Australia.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Teams and qualification, Qualified teams
Qualification for the tournament took place between April 2009 and November 2010. As the host nation, Germany were granted automatic qualification, while the remaining national teams qualified through their continental confederations. Most confederations used their continental championship tournaments – the AFC Women's Asian Cup, CAF Women's Championship, OFC Women's Championship, Sudamericano Femenino and CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup – to determine qualification. The exception to this was UEFA, which used its own qualifying tournament. One qualification spot was determined by a play-off between a UEFA and CONCACAF team.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Teams and qualification, Qualified teams
Colombia and Equatorial Guinea made their debuts in the FIFA Women's World Cup. Brazil, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, Norway, Sweden and the United States maintained their streak of qualifying for all six tournaments so far, while China PR failed to qualify for the first time ever. This is Mexico's first appearance since 1999 and France's first appearance since 2003.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Organization, Local organising committee
The tournament is supervised by the "Women's World Cup 2011 Organising Committee Germany". President of the Organising Committee (OC) is former German international Steffi Jones; she started her work on 1 January 2008. German president Christian Wulff was named the patron of the tournament.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Organization, Local organising committee
The Organising Committee is chaired by Jones and supervised by the board of the German Football Federation (DFB). On 25 January 2009, Jones opened the committee offices and named her OC team. It is led by managing director Uli Wolter, who headed the Leipzig branch during the 2006 men's World Cup. Aside from Wolter, four department heads were named. Heike Ulrich is responsible for the tournament organisation, former German international Doris Fitschen heads the marketing department, Winfried Naß leads the department "Cities and Stadiums", and Jens Grittner, who served as the press officer for the 2006 Organising Committee, heads the communications department.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Organization, Local organising committee
Intended to advertise the tournament primarily in Germany, the Organising Committee named four national Women's World Cup ambassadors: former German internationals Britta Carlson, Renate Lingor, and Sandra Minnert, as well as shooting Paralympics gold medallist Manuela Schmermund. In October 2009, former U.S. international Mia Hamm was presented as the World Cup's international ambassador. Each host city except for Berlin also named two city ambassadors. They include footballers Matthias Sammer, Karl-Heinz Riedle and Rainer Bonhof, fencer Britta Heidemann or biathlete Magdalena Neuner.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Organization, Emblem and mascot
The official World Cup emblem, called Arena Deutschland, was presented by Steffi Jones and Franz Beckenbauer in the break between the women's and the men's game of the German Cup final on 19 April 2008. It shows a stylised stadium with stripes in the national colours of Germany, black, red and gold, and a pictogram of the Women's World Cup trophy in the upper right corner. It was designed by the Stuttgart advertising agency WVP.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Organization, Emblem and mascot
The tournament mascot, cat "Karla Kick", was presented during the opening game of the 2010 Under-20 Women's World Cup on 13 July 2010. The mascot was developed by the Frankfurt agency GMR Marketing. According to Jones, the mascot represents "important attributes of women's football: passion, fun and dynamics".


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Organization, Tickets
Approximately one million tickets were available in total, with 900,000 on general sale. 350,000 tickets were offered at discount prices, mainly intended for families, clubs and schools, one of the key target groups of the Organising Committee. As of 22 June 2011, 700,000 tickets have been sold.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Organization, Tickets
The World Cup tickets were offered in several sales phases. During the first sales period from 29 October 2009 to 31 August 2010, only so-called city series tickets were offered. Each city series includes tickets for all games of that particular host city. The prices ranged from €30 to €415. In the second sales period from 17 February to 31 August 2010, so-called 20Eleven tickets were sold to groups of at least 11 people, offered at a 20 percent discount and directed primarily at schools and clubs. Single tickets for all matches were first sold starting 15 September 2010. The prices of individual tickets range from €10 to €200. On 18 March 2011, 100 days before the opening game, the last sales phase started, with all remaining tickets being sold in the order in which orders are received.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Organization, Tickets
Unlike tickets at the 2006 men's World Cup in Germany, the tickets for the Women's World Cup were not personalised. The same city series ticket can be used by different people for different games.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Organization, Budget and sponsors
The tournament's budget has been set at €51 million. The German Football Association plans to cover these costs in almost equal parts from ticket sales and from sponsors, primarily from six so-called National Supporters. In order for the tournament to break even, the DFB has said about 80% of the tickets need to be sold, which would translate to an average attendance of 25,000. The DFB estimates to earn roughly €27 million through the general ticket sale.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Organization, Budget and sponsors
From 2008 to 2010, the six National Supporters were presented: the tele-communications company Deutsche Telekom, the bank Commerzbank, the insurer Allianz, the retailer Rewe, the national mail company Deutsche Post and the national railway company Deutsche Bahn. Aside from Deutsche Bahn, the sponsors are identical with those of the 2010 U-20 Women's World Cup.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Organization, Media coverage
The television coverage of the tournament was unprecedented. For the first time, all matches were produced in high definition, with in-goal cameras and two steadicams being used for all matches. For selected matches, the broadcast production comprised up to 18 cameras, including a spidercam and a helicopter camera.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Organization, Media coverage
In Germany the public broadcasters ARD and ZDF showed all 32 tournament games live. Across Europe, all games were available on Eurosport in 34 countries and territories. In the United States, ESPN and ESPN2 served as the official English-language broadcaster, while Univision carried coverage in Spanish. In Canada, CBC Television and Sportsnet broadcast the tournament; the event was the first in a sub-licensing partnership for FIFA tournaments between the two networks. In the United Kingdom, the games of the English national team were shown live by BBC Red Button and the BBC Sport website. The final was shown live on BBC Three. SBS held the broadcasting rights for Australia, while Al Jazeera broadcast matches in the Middle East and North Africa.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Organization, Media coverage
The tournament was the first women's event to be the subject of a Panini sticker album, available only in Germany.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Organization, Media coverage
The final match between Japan and the United States broke the record for most tweets per second on Twitter – 7,196.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Match officials
FIFA's Referees' Committee selected 16 referees to officiate at the World Cup: three from the AFC, one from the CAF, two from CONMEBOL, three from CONCACAF, one from the OFC and six from UEFA. In addition 32 assistant referees and three fourth officials were selected. The oldest referee was 42-year-old Swede Jenny Palmquist, while the youngest referee was 29-year-old Finau Vulvuli of Fiji.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Squads
As with the 2007 tournament, each team's squad for the 2011 Women's World Cup consisted of 21 players, two less than men's World Cup squads. Each participating national association had to confirm their final 21-player squad no later than 10 working days before the start of the tournament. Replacement of seriously injured players was permitted until 24 hours before the team in question's first World Cup game.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Squads, Doping cases
On 25 June 2011 the A sample of Yineth Varón, goalkeeper of Colombia, tested positive to an as yet unknown substance. She was provisionally suspended by the FIFA until the B sample result was known. On 25 August 2011, it was confirmed that she had received a two-year ban.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Squads, Doping cases
On 7 July 2011, FIFA announced that two players from North Korea, Song Jong-Sun and Jong Pok-Sim, were provisionally suspended prior to their team's match against Colombia after failing doping tests during the tournament. On 16 July, FIFA announced that three additional players (Hong Myong-Hui, Ho Un-Byol and Ri Un-Hyang) from North Korea tested positive following target testing of the whole team. On 25 August 2011, the Korean team was fined US$400,000, which is equal to the prize it received by finishing 13th in the 2011 tournament, and was excluded from participation at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Final draw
The Organising Committee approved the procedure for the final draw on 28 November 2010. Four teams from different geographic regions – Germany, Japan, United States, Brazil – were seeded based on their FIFA Women's World Rankings. No two teams from the same confederation were to be drawn in the same group, with the exception of Group A, which would include two European teams.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Final draw
The group draw was staged in Frankfurt, Germany, on 29 November 2010 at the Congress Centrum. The ceremony was presented by Organising Committee president Steffi Jones, assisted by FIFA Head of Women's Competitions Tatjana Haenni. The balls were drawn by former German international Günter Netzer and Slovak model and women's football ambassador Adriana Karembeu.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage
The first round, or group stage, sees the sixteen teams divided into four groups of four teams. Each group is a round-robin of six games, where each team plays one match against each of the other teams in the same group. Teams are awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw and none for a defeat. The teams finishing first and second in each group qualifies for the quarter-finals.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Group stage
The match schedule for the tournament was released on 20 March 2009, with the hosts placed in position A1. Unlike previous Women's World Cup final tournaments, there were no double-headers, but matches on the same day were held in different venues. According to the Organising Committee, this "signals the increased quality and status of the women's finals".


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Knockout stage
The knockout stage comprises the eight teams that advanced from the group stage of the tournament. There are three rounds of matches, with each round eliminating half of the teams entering that round. The successive rounds are the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final. There is also a play-off to decide third and fourth place. For each game in the knockout stage, any draw at 90 minutes is followed by thirty minutes of extra time; if scores are still level, there is a penalty shootout to determine who progresses to the next round.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament. The Golden Ball (best overall player), Golden Boot (top scorer) and Golden Glove (best goalkeeper) awards were sponsored by Adidas, while the Best Young Player award was sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company. FIFA.com shortlisted ten goals for users to vote on as the Goal of the Tournament, which was sponsored by Sony.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Awards, All-Star Team
Elise Kellond-Knight  Érika  Alex Scott  Sonia Bompastor  Laura Georges  Saskia Bartusiak


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Awards, All-Star Team
Jill Scott  Genoveva Añonma  Louisa Nécib  Aya Miyama  Shinobu Ohno  Homare Sawa  Kerstin Garefrekes  Caroline Seger  Shannon Boxx  Lauren Cheney


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Statistics, Goalscorers
There were 86 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 2.69 goals per match. Homare Sawa of Japan won the Golden Boot award for scoring five goals.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Statistics, Assists
Aya Miyama of Japan won the assists table with four assists.


2011 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.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final
The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final was a football match that took place on 17 July 2011 at Commerzbank-Arena, in Frankfurt, Germany, to determine the winner of 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. It was played between Japan and the United States. Japan won 3–1 in a penalty shoot-out following a 2–2 draw after extra time, becoming the first Asian team to win a FIFA World Cup final. The match's shocking outcome and Japan's route to the title had been considered as the world's greatest giant-killing in history, given Japan's low expectation before the tournament. It was even more meaningful for the country as Japan was still feeling the effects of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 15,000 people prior to the tournament.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final
The 2011 final was the last major sporting event to be broadcast in Japan prior to the country's digital switchover that took place on 24 July 2011.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Background
The match was between the United States (USA), which had been a major power in women's association football since winning the inaugural World Cup championship, and Japan, which had never won a major world title, or indeed even reached the finals of a major world competition. This was also the first appearances of the United States in the final after 12 years. The United States was bidding to become the first team to win a third world championship, having won in 1991 and 1999.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Background
Japan was bidding to become the fourth team to win a world championship, joining the United States, Norway and Germany. Interestingly, before the beginning of the competition, the Japanese side had almost pulled out from the competition due to the disastrous earthquake that happened back in their home country, as the women's league in Japan was suspended and eventually cancelled.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Background
The match was the third between the two teams in World Cup play. The United States beat Japan 3–0 in pool play in 1991, and won 4–0 in a 1995 quarterfinal match. Going into the final, the USA had never lost to Japan, with 22 wins and 3 draws. Prior to the World Cup, the United States was the top-ranked team in the FIFA Women's World Rankings, while Japan was ranked fourth. Despite being ranked fourth, very few people expected Japan to reach the semi-finals, let alone win the tournament.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Background
This marked the first time that a team won the World Cup having lost a match in pool play.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Background
Japan became only the second Asian national team to reach the FIFA Women's World Cup Final, following China's final appearance against the United States in 1999. This was also only the second final not involving a European team.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Route to the final
Despite being ranked 1st in the world by FIFA, the United States was the final team to qualify for the 2011 World Cup. After finishing third in the 2010 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup, which serves as the CONCACAF qualifier, the United States was forced to defeat Italy in a Home and Away playoff. Japan, ranked 4th,  qualified for the tournament by finishing third in the 2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup, which served as the AFC qualifier.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Route to the final
Once at the finals, the United States reached the knockout stage by finishing second in Group C behind Sweden, the only team they lost to in group play. They advanced through the quarterfinals on a penalty shootout with Brazil, in which the United States footballer Abby Wambach scored an equalizer in the 122nd minute of the game – in stoppage time, the latest goal ever scored in Women's World Cup play, – to tie the game 2–2 and bring the game into a penalty shootout. The United States then defeated France 3–1 to reach the final.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Route to the final
Japan reached the knockout stage by finishing second in Group B behind England, which was the only team to defeat Japan in group play. Japan then stunned the host nation, two-time defending champions Germany, 1–0 in extra time. They then defeated Sweden 3–1 to reach the final match.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Match, Summary
The Americans began strongly as being the favorite to win the trophy, and pressured the Japanese from early 20 minutes. However neither Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe or Abby Wambach managed to bring down the Japanese to take an early lead. In 22', Shinobu Ohno gave Japan its first strike, but to no avail. In 28', Wambach missed a golden opportunity to take the lead with her shot hit the bar. The Japanese tried their luck in 30' but Ohno's breakthrough proved to be too easily predicted by Hope Solo. The Americans resumed pressure and in 44', Christie Rampone almost cleared the Japanese line but was blocked and the Japanese launched an unsuccessful counterattack, ending the first half goalless. Remarkedly, Japan possessed more ball control than the U.S. despite being mostly in defense.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Match, Summary
The second half also began with American domination. Alex Morgan wasted a golden chance in 49', Heather O'Reilly drove a low cross towards the near post which Morgan took a shot, beating Japanese keeper Ayumi Kaihori but denied by the post. Kozue Ando and Ohno made the American defenders few minutes to startle from 54' to 56' where Aya Sameshima's corner kick was cleared. In 60', the Japanese almost got a chance to score when Yukari Kinga thrashed Sawa's excellent lofted through pass over the bar, but no goal.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Match, Summary
In 69', Alex Morgan reacted first to a deep ball from Rapinoe, held off a challenge from Kumagai before drilling a low left-footed shot past Kaihori to give the U.S. a major breakthrough, giving the U.S. a goal lead. The Japanese side regrouped and attacked the U.S., but Rampone's good defending management proved hard to break.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Match, Summary
However, in 81', as the U.S. was busy planning a counterattack, they were shocked by quick Japanese response, and while Ali Krieger might have cleared the danger first, mistake by Rachel Buehler provided Aya Miyama a golden chance, and she didn't miss it to level 1–1 for Japan. The U.S. tried to give a decisive end for the game, but there was no goal to come as the two sides settled 1–1 after 90 minutes.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Match, Summary
Extra-times began with Japan enjoyed better possession as usual, though they still maintained mostly a defensive approach to fight against strong American attacks. In 104', when it appeared that they would end the first half of extra-times with no goal, Wambach's powerful header from the centre of the area with connection to Morgan's excellent pass sent the U.S. a 2–1 lead again. With the second half of extra-times started, the Japanese looked exhausted and the U.S. was thought to have an advantage.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Match, Summary
Yet, mistakes by American defenders reappeared when they flopped too much balls allowing Miyama and Homare Sawa to make direct threats, though there was no goal. It didn't last long, in 117', Japan got a corner kick and Miyama this time sent the ball to Sawa, who ran towards the near post, met the corner before any USA defender and poked the ball over Solo at the expense of American defenders to level it again. The result was kept after extra-times, putting the game into penalty shoot-out, even when Azusa Iwashimizu got a red card in added times.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Match, Summary
For the United States, having taken the lead twice only to be levelled both times drastically demoralized the Americans, Shannon Boxx, Lloyd and Tobin Heath missed three straight kicks for the U.S., while only Yūki Nagasato missed the opportunity for Japan in the first three.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Match, Summary
Wambach tried to salvage with a goal to reduce the limit, but it went in vain when Saki Kumagai scored the decisive penalty to give Japan the historic World Cup trophy for the first time, where they decided to give the trophy as a gift for the Japanese people at home who suffered the devastating earthquake in earlier March.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Reaction and impact
The outcome of the game was so unbelievable that it caused widespread celebration in Japan as the country had just suffered the devastating earlier March earthquake that demoralized the country.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Reaction and impact
The Japanese side received international acclaim for becoming world champions from the background of a catastrophic natural disaster and poor conditions prior to the tournament, as well as referring Japan's journey as a "fairytale", noting that how the Japanese side came with a natural disaster crisis, lacked any sufficient support from the JFA as women's football wasn't the top priority of Japan's football development and had almost pulled out from the tournament owing to the disaster at home. Miho Kajioka, a football fan from Tokyo summed it up "We haven't had a single piece of good news for the past four months. It's as if we had nothing to be hopeful about, so in that sense the result is great. It's incredible."


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Reaction and impact
The Japanese victory meant that it has officially broken Saudi Arabia's FIFA monopoly that acquired back in 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship, becoming the second AFC member to win a World Cup trophy in every levels and genders.


2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, Reaction and impact
Tony DiCicco, manager of the victorious American side in the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup and a commentator in ESPN at the time, expressed the shocking outcome, “They feel they can win. That's almost never been the case before.” Aya Sameshima, who was part of the Japanese side in 2011, expressed that determination was the reason for Japan to overcome the adverse situations.