It will be the biggest Women’s World Cup ever with 24 teams taking part in Canada and it is likely to be the most viewed as the interest in the game is arguably at its highest.
Should you have any doubts about watching the coverage that will be on BBC in the UK, just have a look at the goal for Canada that beat England in last weekends warm up game. Take a bow Sophie Schmidt.
The goal by Schmidt has set the standard going into an eagerly anticipated tournament which has been extended to a group stage of six groups of four teams.
If you are new to the game then here we have a run down of previous winners, runners up and the layout of this years competition in Canada.
Previous Competitions
- 1991 – hosted by China, the final saw USA beat Norway
- 1995 – hosted by Sweden, the final saw Norway beat Germany
- 1999 – hosted by USA, the final saw them beat China on penalties
- 2003 – hosted by USA, the final saw Germany beat Sweden
- 2007 – hosted by China, the final saw Germany beat Brazil
- 2011 – hosted by Germany, the final saw Japan beat USA
- 2015 – Canada are hosts
- 2019 – France will be hosts
The tournaments in 1991 and 1995 were contested by 12 teams which increased to 16 in 1999. Both Germany and USA have won the title twice. The layout of the 2015 competition is below and games will be played in Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and Moncton. The final will take place in Vancouver.
Group stage – Saturday 6 June – Wednesday 17 June
- Group A – Canada, China, New Zealand, Netherlands
- Group B – Germany, Ivory Coast, Norway, Thailand
- Group C – Japan, Switzerland, Cameroon, Ecuador
- Group D – USA, Australia, Sweden, Nigeria
- Group E – Brazil, South Korea, Spain, Costa Rica
- Group F – France, England, Colombia, Mexico
Last 16 stage – Saturday 20 June – Tuesday 23 June (all locations other than Winnipeg) The top two from each group along with four third placed teams with the best record.
Quarter-finals – Friday 26 June – Saturday 27 June (Ottawa/ Montreal/ Edmonton/ Vancouver)
Semi-finals – Tuesday 30 June – Wednesday 1 July (Montreal/Edmonton)
Match for third-place – Saturday 4 July (Edmonton)
Final – Sunday 5 July (Vancouver)
The 3/1 joint favourites to win the tournament are USA and Germany having already won the trophy twice each. Behind them we have the likes of France (5/1), Brazil (8/1), holders Japan (8/1) and hosts Canada (14/1). England are around 20/1.
Rankings
To give you an idea of which teams are in form heading into the competition, below are the top ten teams in the current FIFA rankings. The only team that feature in the top ten not taking part in this World Cup is North Korea who were excluded after five players failed doping tests.
- Germany
- USA
- France
- Japan
- Sweden
- England
- Brazil
- Canada
- North Korea
- Australia
Players
There are a multitude of talents to keep an eye on throughout the competition but here are our five to watch.
- Alex Morgan (USA) – Finalist for the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year. Plays the number ten role with an eye for goal.
- Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands) – The Dutch striker led the European scoring charts in qualifiers and is arguably one of the most explosive players at the finals.
- Nadine Kessler (Germany) – Highly talented box to box midfielder who contributed to Germany’s Euro 2013 title.
- Lotta Schelin (Sweden) – All time leading goal scorer for Sweden who helped her side to win every game of the qualifiers.
- Homare Sawa (Japan) – It will be the swansong for former World Player of the Year playing in her last competition for the defending champions. It the attacking midfielders sixth consecutive World Cup, the first footballer male or female ever to do so.
England
Here is the squad of players that manager Mark Sampson has selected that have travelled to Canada to take on France, Colombia and Mexico. Their first game will be the toughest in the group, against France in Moncton on Tuesday 9 June. They then face Mexico on 13 June in Moncton again and Colombia on 17 June in Montreal.
- Goalkeepers – Karen Bardsley (Manchester City), Siobhan Chamberlain (Arsenal), Carly Telford (Notts County)
- Defenders – Laura Bassett (Notts County), Lucy Bronze (Manchester City), Alex Greenwood (Notts County), Steph Houghton (Manchester City), Claire Rafferty (Chelsea), Alex Scott (Arsenal), Casey Stoney (Arsenal)
- Midfielders – Katie Chapman (Chelsea), Jade Moore (Birmingham City), Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal), Jo Potter (Birmingham City), Jill Scott (Manchester City), Fara Williams (Liverpool)
- Forwards – Eniola Aluko (Chelsea), Karen Carney (Birmingham City), Toni Duggan (Manchester City), Fran Kirby (Reading), Lianne Sanderson (Arsenal), Jodie Taylor (Portland Thorns), Ellen White (Notts County).
Our England player to watch is Fara Williams. The Liverpool midfielder is quite a success story having battled homelessness for several years. She has over 100 caps and played in both the 2007 and 2011 World Cup competitions. She also featured for Great Britain and the London Olympics in 2012.
We will have updates on the site every few days and we will be using social media to share views and comments throughout the tournament. Make sure you have a listen to the EPL Roundtable podcast. Two episodes are already available to listen to as the panel discuss the World Cup.
Make sure you join our league imaginatively called ‘The Eagles Beak’ on the Play Togga Women’s World Cup Challenge app available both from iTunes and Google Play.
All that is left for us to say is enjoy the competition and stick with us for updates and opinion.
