The 2003 South American Women's Football Championship (Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol Femenino 2003) was the fourth staging of the South American Women's Football Championship and determined the CONMEBOL's qualifiers for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. The tournament was held between 9 and 27 April.
Originally, the competition was scheduled to take place from April 5 to April 16, 2002 in Córdoba, Argentina. Later, it was moved to Peru, January/February 2003, with Lima and Chincha as venues, only for group A and the final round. Argentina retained the hosting rights for group C while Ecuador was appointed as host of the group B.
Brazil won the tournament for the fourth time in a row, after finishing first in the final round. Also, they qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup along with Argentina, the runners-up.
Three venues (located in three different countries) were used for the tournament:
The following referees and assistant referees were named for the tournament:
In contrast to previous tournaments, this edition's format had a first round with three regional groups, where the first-placed teams joined Brazil (who got a bye to the second round after winning the previous edition) for a final tournament in Peru.
The final tournament was set up in a round-robin format, where each team played one match against each of the other teams within the group. The top two teams in the group qualified for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup in the United States, and the first-placed team won the tournament.
Three points were awarded for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss.
Teams were ranked on the following criteria:
Brazil won the tournament and qualified for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup along with runners-up Argentina.