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.

Six nations, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Peru and Switzerland, initially declared their interest in hosting the 2011 Women's World Cup.

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.

[5] 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.

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.

[15] 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.

[16] 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.

In Africa and the Middle East a considerable percentage of teams had withdrawn from World Cup qualification in the past.

The qualified teams, listed by region, with numbers in parentheses indicating final positions in the FIFA Women's World Ranking before the tournament were:[22] † – qualified via a play-off against Italy Colombia and Equatorial Guinea made their debuts in the FIFA Women's World Cup.

It is led by managing director Uli Wolter, who headed the Leipzig branch during the 2006 men's World Cup.

[25] 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.

They include footballers Matthias Sammer, Karl-Heinz Riedle and Rainer Bonhof, fencer Britta Heidemann or biathlete Magdalena Neuner.

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.

[29] 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.

[31] 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.

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.

[34] 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.

[48] 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.

[50] 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.

Four teams from different geographic regions – Germany, Japan, United States, Brazil – were seeded based on their FIFA Women's World Rankings.

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.

Unlike previous Women's World Cup final tournaments, there were no double-headers, but matches on the same day were held in different venues.

[89] Ayumi Kaihori Hope Solo Elise Kellond-Knight Érika Alex Scott Sonia Bompastor Laura Georges Saskia Bartusiak Jill Scott Genoveva Añonma Louisa Nécib Aya Miyama Shinobu Ohno Homare Sawa Kerstin Garefrekes Caroline Seger Shannon Boxx Lauren Cheney Marta Lotta Schelin Abby Wambach There were 86 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 2.69 goals per match.

In June 2023, Nilla Fischer revealed in her book, I Didn't Even Say Half Of It, that the Swedish team were told to show their genitalia to prove that they were women during the 2011 competition.

This came after protests from Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana relating to allegations that the Equatorial Guinea squad included men.

Fischer described the process, which was conducted by a female physiotherapist on behalf of the doctor, as humiliating but did not have a choice in order to not jeapordise the opportunity to play at a World Cup.

FIFA said it had taken note of recent comments made by Nilla Fischer around her experiences and gender verification testing conducted by the Swedish national team at the World Cup.