Japan as the fourth-placed team faced another match for qualification.

This included the hosts Thailand and the defending champions North Korea.

This is played in the format of a semi-final, a 3rd/4th place match, as well as a final.

The winners and runners-up of the competition automatically qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2003.

From 2006, a separate qualification round was introduced to find out teams to qualify for the Women's Asian Cup.