The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial championship of women's national soccer teams organized by FIFA. It was held in the United States from September 20 to October 12, 2003, at six venues in six cities across the country. The tournament was won by Germany, who became the first country to win both the men's and women's World Cup. China was originally awarded the right to host the tournament, which would have taken place from September 23 to October 11 in four cities. A severe outbreak of SARS in early 2003 affected Guangdong in southern China and prompted FIFA to move the Women's World Cup to the United States, who had hosted the previous edition in 1999. China was instead granted hosting rights for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup and financial compensation while the United States Soccer Federation made new arrangements to host at smaller stadiums. Preparations Host selection and change FIFA awarded hosting rights for the Women's World Cup to China on October 26, 2000, beating a bid by Australia. The tournament was originally planned to run from September 23 to October 11 at venues in Shanghai, Wuhan, Chengdu, and Hangzhou. Several sporting events in China were canceled or postponed in early April due to the outbreak of SARS in southern China, including the official draw for the Women's World Cup, and FIFA launched a joint investigation with the World Health Organization into whether the outbreak would subside by the time of the tournament. The United States, Canada, and Australia were mentioned as potential replacement hosts at the time. On May 3, 2003, FIFA announced that they would move the tournament to an alternate host country, which would be determined at a later date; the United States and Australia had expressed interest in hosting, while Brazil was floated as another potential host. FIFA also announced that they would instead award the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup and pay $1 million to the organizing committee to compensate for planning expenses. On May 26, 2003, the United States was announced as the tournament's new host, ahead of the other formal bid submitted by Sweden. The United States was judged to be a suitable emergency host because of their experience with organizing the 1999 tournament, despite potential conflicts in the fall sports schedule with American football and baseball. Women's soccer