The 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification process saw 48 teams from the six FIFA confederations compete for the 12 places in the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup finals. The places were divided as follows:
All of the confederations used their regional championship tournament to determine qualification. Hosts China PR also entered the qualifying process.
The first qualification match was played on 9 September 1989 and the qualification concluded on 14 July 1991. A total of 445 goals were scored in the 111 qualifying matches (an average of 4.01 per match).
Four teams withdrew during the qualification without playing a match: Congo, Senegal, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, all of which are African teams.
The eight teams were paired together into two knockout ties. The winners of these ties advanced to the second round, who used the same format as the first round. The final round is a two-leg final between the two winners of the second round. The winner, Nigeria qualified to the World Cup and won the tournament by defeating Cameroon 6–0 on aggregate.
The first round was composed of two groups, one of four teams and the other of five. The top two teams of the groups advanced to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, the winners advanced to the final and the losers played the third-place match. The winner, China; runners-up, Japan; and third place, Chinese Taipei, qualified to the World Cup.
The first official edition of the UEFA Women's Championship served also as UEFA's qualifying tournament for the World Cup. Out of the 18 teams participating in the tournament, the qualifiers were the four semi-finalists—Denmark, Germany, Italy, and Norway—and the best quarter-final loser, Sweden, who lost their two-leg quarter-final clash against Italy on a single away goal.
The UEFA Women's Championship had held its own qualifying campaign. It began in September 1989, and ended with a final four–style tournament in Denmark, held in July 1991, only four months before the World Cup.
The competition was eventually decided through goal-difference, as the matches between Australia and New Zealand ended with one win to each side, and both teams won all matches against Papua New Guinea.
The first edition of the Sudamericano Femenino (Women's South American Championship), held in April–May 1991 determined CONMEBOL's qualifier. The host of the tournament Brazil won the tournament and with it the right to represent South America in the World Cup.
