Four years ago, the Women's Gold Cup tournament served as the qualifying process. It took place in Mexico, and there were only two direct qualifying spots and a playoff berth up for grabs. The U.S. was stunned by the hosts in the semfinals, and so had to beat Costa Rica in the semfinals just to get a shot at the playoff. They did so by a 3-0 margin, then beat Italy 2-0 on aggregate (1-0 in each game) to book their passage to Germany.