FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, has given final approval on the schedule for the 1999 Women’s World Cup, determining the first-round and knockout round match-ups of the third world championship for women’s soccer. The 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup final draw, to be held at halftime of the FIFA World Stars vs. the U.S. women’s national team match on Feb. 14 at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, Calif., will place the 16 teams into four groups (A, B, C and D) of four teams each (1, 2, 3 and 4), determining the complete schedule for the tournament. The top-seeded teams are defending champion Norway, China, Germany and the USA. To ensure the quality of the competition and the safety of the athletes, FIFA has preliminarily approved increasing the roster size from 20 to 22 players. The 1996 Olympic rosters featured just 16 players. The 16 teams of the 1999 Women’s World Cup will have an average of 2.5 rest days between first-round games, compared to the single day of rest between first-round matches at the 1995 Women’s World Cup and 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Each team will travel after every match, giving fans across the country a chance to see several of the world’s finest teams and athletes in their cities. There will be three rest days between the final first-round games and the quarterfinals, and two-to-three days between the quarterfinals and the semifinals. However, the teams that face each other in the knockout rounds will always be playing on the same number of days rest. The nations that advance to the Final Game will have a full five days of rest between their semifinal matches and the July 10 championship at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. The teams that advance to the Final Game and Third Place Match doubleheader will play six matches in 22 days. By comparison, at the first Women’s World Cup in China, the teams that advanced to the Final played six games in 15 days. At the 1995 Women’s World Cup in Sweden, the top four finishers played six games in 14 days. At the 1996 Olympics, the gold medal game participants played five matches in just 12 days. “The extended three-week 1999 Women’s World Cup will be the most athlete-friendly Women’s World Cup ever,” said Per Omdal, Chairman of the FIFA Committee for Women’s Football. “The increased number of rest days will allow for the highest level of performance and excitement throughout the tournament from the marquee teams and players.” All 32 games will be broadcast on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, with 26 games shown live and six matches shown on tape-delay with short turnarounds. ABC will broadcast the opening game featuring the USA and the Final Game from the Rose Bowl. ESPN will show nine matches with the remaining 21 games on espn2. The order of the games within a doubleheader are still subject to change according to television and marketing preference. All matches will be played as doubleheaders, including the two semifinal matches, which will be played in conjunction with Major League Soccer games. Here is a look at the schedule. The USA will be team A1. All times are eastern. FIRST ROUND
| Date | Matchup | Kickoff (ET) | Venue | Network (live/tape) |
| June 19 | A1 vs. A4 | 3:00 p.m. | Giants Stadium | ABC (live) |
| June 19 | B2 vs. B3 | 5:30 p.m. | Giants Stadium | ESPN (live) |
| June 19 | C2 vs. C3 | 8:00 p.m. | Spartan Stadium | espn2 (live) |
| June 19 | D1 vs. D4 | 10:30 p.m. | Spartan Stadium | espn2 (live) |
| June 20 | C1 vs. C4 | 1:30 p.m. | Foxboro Stadium | ESPN (live) |
| June 20 | D2 vs. D3 | 4:00 p.m. | Foxboro Stadium | espn2 (live) |
| June 20 | B1 Vs. B4 | 7:00 p.m. | Rose Bowl | espn2 (live) |
| June 20 | A2 vs. A3 | 9:30 p.m. | Rose Bowl | espn2 (live) |
| June 23 | C1 vs. C3 | 6:00 p.m. | J.K. Cooke Stadium | espn2 (live) |
| June 23 | D2 vs. D4 | 8:30 p.m. | J.K. Cooke Stadium | espn2 (live) |
| June 23 | D1 vs. D3 | 9:00 p.m. | Civic Stadium | espn2 (tape, 10:30 p.m.) |
| June 23 | C2 vs. C4 | 11:30 p.m. | Civic Stadium | espn2 (tape, 12:30 a.m.) |
| June 24 | B2 vs. B4 | 6:00 p.m. | Soldier Field | espn2 (live) |
| June 24 | A1 vs. A3 | 8:30 p.m. | Soldier Field | ESPN (live) |
| June 24 | B1 vs. B3 | 9:00 p.m. | Civic Stadium | espn2 (tape, 10:30 p.m.) |
| June 24 | A2 vs. A4 | 11:30 p.m. | Civic Stadium | ESPN (tape, 12:30 a.m.) |
| June 26 | C3 vs. C4 | 12:00 p.m. | Giants Stadium | ESPN (live) |
| June 26 | D1 vs. D2 | 2:30 p.m. | Giants Stadium | ESPN (live) |
| June 26 | D3 vs. D4 | 5:00 p.m. | Soldier Field | espn2 (live) |
| June 26 | C1 vs. C2 | 7:30 p.m. | Soldier Field | espn2 (live) |
| June 27 | A3 vs. A4 | 1:30 p.m. | J.K. Cooke Stadium | espn2 (live) |
| June 27 | B1 vs. B2 | 4:00 p.m. | J.K. Cooke Stadium | espn2 (live) |
| June 27 | B3 vs. B4 | 4:30 p.m. | Foxboro Stadium | espn2 (tape, 12:30 a.m.) |
| June 27 | A1 vs. A2 | 7:00 p.m. | Foxboro Stadium | espn2 (live) |
QUARTERFINALS | Date | Matchup | Kickoff (ET) | Venue | Network (live/tape) |
| June 30 | Winner D vs. Runner-Up C (1) | 8:00 p.m. | Spartan Stadium | espn2 (live) |
| June 30 | Winner C vs. Runner-Up D (2) | 10:30 p.m. | Spartan Stadium | espn2 (tape, 12:00 a.m.) |
| July 1 | Winner A vs. Runner-Up B (3) | 7:00 p.m. | J.K. Cooke Stadium | ESPN (live) |
| July 1 | Winner B vs. Runner-Up A (4) | 9:30 p.m. | J.K. Cooke Stadium | espn2 (live) |
SEMIFINALS | Date | Matchup | Kickoff (ET) | Venue | Network (live/tape) |
| July 4 | Winner 3 vs. Winner 4 | 4:30 p.m. | Stanford Stadium | ESPN (live) |
| July 4 | Winner 1 vs. Winner 2 | 7:30 p.m. | Foxboro Stadium | espn2 (live) |
THIRD-PLACE MATCH | Date | Matchup | Kickoff (ET) | Venue | Network (live/tape) |
| July 10 | Semifinal losers | 1:30 p.m. | Rose Bowl | ESPN (live) |
CHAMPIONSHIP | Date | Matchup | Kickoff (ET) | Venue | Network (live/tape) |
| July 10 | Semifinal winners | 4:00 p.m. | Rose Bowl | ABC (live) |
