A total of twelve teams will participate in the finals of the Olympic tournament for women.
Japan and North Korea received bye for the final round.
[3] All matches were held at Zhongshan Soccer Stadium (Taipei, Taiwan).
The system is a two-round single round robin format, held in October 2007.
[8] The final round will be held at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, from 2–13 April.
CONMEBOL announced that the 2006 Sudamericano Femenino in Argentina would also serve as the qualifying tournament for the Olympics.
UEFA announced that the 2007 Women's World Cup in the People's Republic of China will also serve as the qualifying tournament for the Olympics.
Originally it was thought that, should England make the top three European teams, they would compete under the United Kingdom banner.
The FIFA release noted that "teams eliminated at the end of the group phase will have the same ranking irrespective of their position, number of points or goal differences",[9] which implies that Sweden and Denmark will require a playoff for the final qualification spot.
While UEFA initially stated that no playoff was required The official website for European football[dead link], this was amended fairly rapidly The official website for European football[dead link].
An inter-continental play-off was held between the second placed South American and African teams, which were Brazil and Ghana, respectively.
The play-off took place on 19 April 2008 in a single, one-off match at the Workers' Stadium in Beijing, China (a neutral venue).