The final, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, was attended by 90,185 people, setting an international record for spectators at a women's sporting event.

[11] The semifinals were played in separate venues, but organized as doubleheaders hosted by the San Jose Clash and New England Revolution of Major League Soccer.

At FIFA's request, the tournament's organizers had originally planned to use five smaller college football venues on the East Coast located in a single time zone.

[14] Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in Landover, Maryland, serving the Washington, D.C. market, had a limited capacity of 41,000 seats because of ongoing construction during the group stage.

[11] For the tournament, Civic Stadium was outfitted with a temporary grass field that was laid over its artificial turf surface, which debuted during a warm-up friendly on June 6.

[20] Other venues underwent small modifications to host the tournament's matches, including converting American football locker rooms to accommodate more teams and changing the dimensions of the playing field.

[23] That figure was later surpassed by the final, played between the United States and China at the Rose Bowl in front of a crowd of 90,185 spectators—a world record for women's sports.

[41] The 1999 tournament was the first World Cup to feature a pool of 31 referees composed entirely of women—the result of a directive from FIFA president Sepp Blatter approved the year before.

[55] The event attracted funding from several major corporate sponsors who had previously shied away from women's soccer, including: McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Fujifilm, Gillette, and Allstate; the companies, however, did not promote the tournament through advertising and tie-in campaigns like they did for the 1994 men's World Cup.

[28] The United States defeated Denmark 3–0 in the opening match, played on June 19 in front of a record 78,972 at Giants Stadium, with goals scored by Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, and Kristine Lilly.

[85] The United States rested several of its starting players for its final group stage match against North Korea, but finished with a 3–0 victory with a goal from reserve striker Shannon MacMillan and another two scored by midfielder Tisha Venturini in the second half.

[27][28] Brazil opened the group stage with a 7–1 blowout win over Mexico at Giants Stadium, scoring the final six goals of the match after it was tied at 1–1 ten minutes in.

[88] Italy and Germany played to a 1–1 draw the following day at the Rose Bowl, avoiding an upset for the Italians with a penalty kick scored by Bettina Wiegmann in the 61st minute to level the match.

[90] Mexico was eliminated from the group in a 6–0 loss to Germany in Portland, having been outshot 43–2 and unable to force a save from German goalkeeper Silke Rottenberg until the 89th minute.

The Germans then took the lead on a deflected shot by Steffi Jones, but a last-minute header from substitute forward Maycon in stoppage time tied the match at 3–3.

[27][102] In their opening match against Sweden at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, China conceded an early goal in the second minute to Swedish defender Kristin Bengtsson.

[103] Australia and Ghana played to a 1–1 draw at Foxboro Stadium in the group's other opening match a day later, which began with a red card shown to Ghanaian midfielder Barikisu Tettey-Quao in the 25th minute.

[104] Ghanaian goalkeeper Memunatu Sulemana made 11 saves to keep the match scoreless until the 74th minute, when Matildas captain Julie Murray scored to break the deadlock.

Ghana equalized less than two minutes later with a finish by substitute Nana Gyamfuah following a rebound off Australian goalkeeper Tracey Wheeler's save, securing a point in the group standings.

[98][106] Sun Wen completed a hat-trick in the first 54 minutes of China's match against Ghana, which ended in a 7–0 victory at Portland's Civic Stadium and clinched the team's quarter-finals berth.

Australian forward Alicia Ferguson was sent off for a foul in the second minute, which remains the fastest red card in Women's World Cup history.

[114][115] The first match of a quarterfinals doubleheader at Spartan Stadium in San Jose featured China and Russia, the only team to debut at the tournament and also advance to the knockout stage.

[122] Defender Joy Fawcett's header off a corner kick in the 66th minute proved to be the game-winning goal, allowing the United States to advance with a 3–2 defeat of the Germans.

[121] The second match at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, featuring Brazil and Nigeria, was the first in FIFA Women's World Cup history to be decided by a golden goal in extra time.

The goal forced sudden death extra time, which Nigeria would play with only 10 players after forward Patience Avre was ejected in the 87th minute for receiving a second yellow card.

The U.S. began the match with an early lead, following a mistimed catch from Brazilian goalkeeper Maravilha that allowed Cindy Parlow to score from a header in the fifth minute.

Scurry was accused of cheating by multiple media outlets because she had intentionally stepped ahead of the goal line before saving Liu's shot, but stated that "everybody does it".

[141] Brandi Chastain, who had missed a penalty kick in the Algarve Cup against the Chinese months earlier, beat goalkeeper Gao Hong and won the shootout 5–4 for the United States.

[176][177] The 2003 tournament used smaller venues, including several soccer-specific stadiums built for Major League Soccer teams, and its television broadcasts competed against American football and baseball games that were scheduled at the same time.

[185] Gao Hong Briana Scurry Wang Liping Wen Lirong Doris Fitschen Brandi Chastain Carla Overbeck Sissi Liu Ailing Zhao Lihong Bettina Wiegmann Michelle Akers Jin Yan Sun Wen Ann Kristin Aarønes Mia Hamm A total of 123 goals were scored at the Women's World Cup, setting a new tournament record, and averaged 3.84 per match.