The 2019 Women’s World Cup begins Friday, June 7 in Paris, France, where the hosts will kick-off the tournament against South Korea.
The World Cup will begin with Group Stages, to be played June 7-June 20, here’s how those groups breakdown:
GROUPS:
Group A: Group B: Group C: Group D: Group E: Group F:
France Germany Australia England Canada USA
Korea Republic China PR Italy Scotland Cameroon Thailand
Norway Spain Brazil Argentina New Zealand Chile
Nigeria South Africa Jamaica Japan Netherlands Sweden
In group stages, each team is awarded 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. The top two teams and the four highest ranked 3rd place teams from all six groups will also advance to the knock-out stages, where it is single-elimination for the remainder of the tournament. The first round of knock-out stages is the Round of 16 and will break down as follows:
1A vs 3CDE
2A vs 2C
1B vs 3ACD
2B vs 1F
1C vs 3ABF
1D vs 3BEF
1E vs 2D
2E vs 2F
TOURNAMENT DATES:
First Match: Friday, June 7th – France vs South Korea
Group Stage Round 1: Friday, June 7th through Tuesday, June 11th
Group Stage Round 2: Wednesday, June 12th through Sunday, June 16th
Group Stage Round 3: Monday, June 17th through Thursday, June 20th
Round of 16: Saturday, June 22nd through Tuesday, June 25th
Quarter-Finals: Thursday, June 27th through Saturday, June 29th
Semi-Finals: Tuesday, July 2nd through Wednesday, July 3rd
Third Place Match: Saturday, July 6th
Final: Sunday, July 7th
WORLD RANKINGS:
via FIFA.com as of March 29, 2019
TEAMS TO WATCH:
France (Group A): The hosts are ranked #4 in the world and have a record 6-1-0 in 2019 with wins against #1 ranked USA and #7 Japan, their lone loss of the year was to #2 Germany. Midfielder Amandine Henry will captain Les Bleues, Henry most recently won the Division 1 Féminine with Lyon where she has 13 goals in 48 appearances from 2017-2019.
First match: vs South Africa – Friday, June 7 – 1 PM MT
Germany (Group B): Ranked second in the world, Germany is a team to be feared in this world cup. The two-time world champions and reigning Olympic champions have appeared in every Women’s World Cup, their worst tournaments resulting in 4th place on two occasions. Midfielder Dzsenifer Marozsan, a teammate of France’s Henry at Lyon, lead the German side through qualifying with one goal and three assists in four matches.
First match: vs China – Saturday, June 8 – 7 AM MT
Australia (Group C): The Matildas are ranked #6 in the world and began 2019 with a three-match win streak but are headed into the World Cup having lost their last two (5-3 USA and 3-0 Netherlands). Chicago Red Stars striker Sam Kerr has 31 goals in 77 appearances for Australia since 2009 and was on The Best FIFA Women’s Player 2018 shortlist.
First match: vs Italy – Sunday, June 9 – 5 AM MT
England (Group D): The Lionesses will enter the World Cup with a 2019 record of 4-2-1 and 2019 She Believes Cup Champions. With 1-0 losses to Canada and New Zealand in their WC warm-ups, the #3 team in the world has some questions to answer. This will be the first Women’s World Cup for head coach and former Manchester United player Phil Neville. Striker Fran Kirby lead England through qualifying with two goals and five assists.
First match: vs Scotland – Sunday, June 9 – 10 AM MT
Japan (Group D): Ranked 7th in the world, Japan comes into the World Cup with a 2019 record of 1-2-3 having lost to England and France and drawing with the U.S., Germany, and Spain. Japan has made it to the last two finals of the WWC, both against the United States, and claimed victory in 2011 but couldn’t hold the U.S. back in 2015.
First match: vs Argentina – Monday, June 10 – 10 AM MT
Canada (Group E): The Canadians have a 6-0-2 record in 2019 and come into the World Cup ranked #5 in the world. Christine Sinclair, of course, remains the player to watch on this team with 181 goals in 281 appearances. This will be Sinclair’s fifth Women’s World Cup.
First match: vs Cameroon – Monday, June 10 – 1 PM MT
Netherlands (Group E): Entering just their second-ever World Cup the Netherlands find themselves ranked 8th in the world and reigning European Champions. The Netherlands are 5-2-0 in 2019, coming off big wins against World Cup teams Chile and Australia.
First match: vs New Zealand – Tuesday, June 11 – 7 AM MT
Sweden (Group F): Ranked 9th in the world, Sweden will be competing for the top spot in Group F with the United States. The last time these two teams faced off Sweden defeated the U.S. in the Olympic quarter-finals. Stina Blackstenius lead Sweden through qualifying with three goals in seven matches.
First match: vs Chile – Tuesday, June 11 – 10 AM MT
United States of America (Group F): The defending World Cup winners come into the 2019 World Cup ranked first in the world, with all eyes on them. The road to second consecutive, and fourth all-time, WC title could be difficult for the U.S. with the potential matchup against France as early as the quarter-finals and England in the semis. Utah Royals players Christen Press, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Kelley O’Hara have all seen regular minutes for the U.S. through their warm-up matches.
First match: vs Thailand – Tuesday, June 11 – 1 PM MT
