Topic: 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup - Canada / 6 June – 5 July (*)

[kellan]

History

The Women's World Cup was originally the brainchild of the then FIFA president João Havelange. The inaugural tournament was hosted in China in 1991, with twelve teams sent to represent their countries. In 1999 the tournament was expanded to 16 teams and was hosted in the USA, who went on to win it themselves for the second time in the Rose Bowl, California in front of a crowd of 90,185; a world record for a women's sporting event. 16 teams remained the norm until 2015 when the seventh edition of the tournament was expanded to 24 countries.

All-time Performance



Full List of national team appearances in the WWC, ranking, stats, and records

Qualified Teams:

CAF - Nigeria and Cameroon qualified after triumphs over South Africa and Côte d'Ivoire, respectively, in the CAF African Women's Championship semifinals. Côte d'Ivoire rounded out the trio headed to Canada by finishing third after beating South Africa 1-0.
Squads: Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria

AFC - The AFC Women’s Asian Cup was used for AFC qualifying. Korea Republic, China PR, Japan and Australia reached the semifinals to book their place in Canada, while Thailand won a play-off against Vietnam to qualify.
Squads: Australia, China PR, Japan, Korea Republic, Thailand

UEFA - Switzerland and England became the first two European nations to qualify after their successful campaigns during the European qualifiers played between September 2013 and September 2014. Norway, Germany, Spain, France and Sweden followed suit. Italy, Netherlands, Scotland and Ukraine met in the play-offs for the final European ticket. Netherlands were the eventual winners after first beating Scotland and then Italy in double-legged ties.
Squads: England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland

CONCACAF - United States and Costa Rica qualified after reaching the semifinal fixtures of the CONCACAF Women's Championship. Costa Rica took down Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 on penalties after it was tied 1-1 after extra time, while USA handled Mexico 3-0. Mexico earned the final automatic berth after beating Trinidad and Tobago 4-2 in the match for third place.
Squads: Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, USA

OFC - Oceania’s qualifying competition, the OFC Women's Nations Cup, took place in Lae, Papua New Guinea. New Zealand topped the four-nation tournament - which also featured Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Cook Islands
Squads: New Zealand

CONMEBOL - All ten CONMEBOL member associations participated in The Copa America Femenina. Brazil and Colombia booked their place in Canada, while Ecuador defeated Trinidad and Tobago, fourth-place finishers from CONCACAF, 1-0 on aggregate in an intercontinental play-off for the last qualification spot.
Squads: Brazil, Colombia, Equador

2015 Host - Canada

FIFA's decision on who hosted was an easy one after they only received two bids by the December 2010 deadline, Canada and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe, who were unlikely to be successful in their attempt anyway, withdrew from the process three months after submitting their bid. Rather than reopen the bidding process and invite more potential hosts, FIFA awarded the tournament straight to Canada.

Venues - The cities of Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and Moncton have been selected to host tournament matches. Toronto decided not to bid, due to potential conflicts with the 2015 Pan American Games.

Edmonton - Commonwealth Stadium (Semifinal & 3rd Place Play-off Venue)
Moncton - Moncton Stadium
Montreal - Olympic Stadium (Semifinal Venue)
Ottawa - TD Place Stadium
Vancouver - BC Place (Final Venue)
Winnipeg - Investors Group Field

[kellan]

Group Stage: The group stage sees the twenty four teams divided into six groups of four. Each group is a round-robin format where each team plays one match against each of the other teams in the same group. The group winners and group runners-up, as well as the four best third-place teams, will qualify for the knockout stage.
Group Position tie-breaks: 1. Points / 2. Goal Difference / 3. No. of Goals scored in all matches / 4. Head-to-Head Points / 5. Head-to-Head GD / 6. Head-to-Head GF / 7. Drawing of Lots

Group A - Match One, Match Two, Match Three

Canada China PR Netherlands New Zealand

P 3 3 3 3

W 1 1 1 0

D 2 1 1 2

L 0 1 1 1

GF 2 3 2 2

GA 1 3 2 3

GD +1 0 0 -1

Pts 5 4 4 2

Group B - Match One, Match Two, Match Three

Germany Norway Thailand Côte d'Ivoire

P 3 3 3 3

W 2 2 1 0

D 1 1 0 0

L 0 0 2 3

GF 15 8 3 3

GA 1 2 10 16

GD +14 +6 -7 -13

Pts 7 7 3 0

Group C - Match One, Match Two, Match Three

Japan Cameroon Switzerland Ecuador

P 3 3 3 3

W 3 2 1 0

D 0 0 0 0

L 0 1 2 3

GF 4 9 11 1

GA 1 3 4 17

GD +3 +6 +7 -16

Pts 9 6 3 0

Group D - Match One, Match Two, Match Three

USA Australia Sweden Nigeria

P 3 3 3 3

W 2 1 0 0

D 1 1 3 1

L 0 1 0 2

GF 4 4 4 3

GA 1 4 4 6

GD +3 0 0 -3

Pts 7 4 3 1

Group E - Match One, Match Two, Match Three

Brazil Korea Republic Costa Rica Spain

P 3 3 3 3

W 3 1 0 0

D 0 1 2 1

L 0 1 1 2

GF 4 4 3 2

GA 0 5 4 4

GD +4 -1 -1 -2

Pts 9 4 2 1

Group F - Match One, Match Two, Match Three

France England Colombia Mexico

P 3 3 3 3

W 2 2 1 0

D 0 0 1 1

L 1 1 1 2

GF 6 4 4 2

GA 2 3 3 8

GD +4 1 1 -6

Pts 6 6 4 1

Third Place Ranking - Top 4 Progress - Position tie-breaks: 1. Points / 2. Goal Difference / 3. No. of Goals scored in all matches / 4. Drawing of Lots

- Colombia Netherlands Switzerland Sweden Thailand Costa Rica

P 3 3 3 3 3 3

W 1 1 1 0 1 0

D 1 1 0 3 0 2

L 1 1 2 0 2 1

GF 4 2 11 4 3 3

GA 3 2 4 4 10 4

GD +1 0 +7 0 -7 -1

Pts 4 4 3 3 3 2

Knockout Stage: The knockout stage comprises the sixteen teams that advanced from the group stage. There are four rounds of matches: the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final. There is also a play-off to decide third and fourth place. Extra time and penalties determine who progresses when necessary.

[kellan]

Time to kick things off in here. March in the women's game is traditionally friendly cup competition month. In World Cup years these tournaments carry a little more significance and usually signal the start of the final preparations phase. I'm going to keep tabs on what happens with these tournaments and with everything else that follows until the actual World Cup itself so that anybody who fancies following this thread come the summer has some relevant context for what they are seeing in Canada.

Algarve Cup
Group A - Sweden, Germany, Brazil, China
Group B - USA, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland
Group C - Denmark, France, Japan, Portugal

Cyprus Cup
Group A - Canada, Italy, South Korea, Scotland
Group B - Australia, England, Finland, Netherlands
Group C - Belgium, Czech Republic, Mexico, South Africa

Istria Cup
Group A - Republic of Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia
Group B - Northern Ireland, Poland, Romania, Croatia
Group C - Wales, Costa Rica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France B

World Cup teams are bolded. Each team plays the others in their group once. At the end of that all 12 teams are tabled based on their points in the group stage and said table is used to match up six more ties to determine final finishing positions.

Today's matches involving World Cup sides:

Algarve
Japan 1-2 Denmark
Brazil 0-0 China
Switzerland 2-0 Iceland
Germany 4-2 Sweden
Portugal 0-1 France
Norway 1-2 USA

Cyprus
South Korea 1-2 Italy
Finland 1-3 England
Mexico 2-0 South Africa
Scotland 0-2 Canada
Netherlands 0-1 Australia
Czech Republic 2-2 Belgium

Istria
Costa Rica 1-0 Bosnia and Herzegovina

Only the Algarve Cup has TV/Stream coverage (FOX and Eurosport mainly). Full schedule and kick off times: http://uk.women.soccerway.com/

[Gojedo]

New Zealand will most likely fail miserably and lose the final.

[stoa]

Japan have won it in 2011? Wow, never knew that...

[ColdSteel]

I'm really looking forward to this. Have some friends and family going. A lot of teams are good enough to win it so it's up in the air.

[ColdSteel]

That bit about the pitch controversy is a disgrace. To ask these athletes to play their biggest tournament on artificial turf just pisses me off. I play on my shitty over 30 league on turf and end up with cut up skin for weeks. I couldn't imagine doing it at that level. They shouldn't have to. End of.

[kellan]

That bit about the pitch controversy is a disgrace. To ask these athletes to play their biggest tournament on artificial turf just pisses me off. I play on my shitty over 30 league on turf and end up with cut up skin for weeks. I couldn't imagine doing it at that level. They shouldn't have to. End of.

The info in the OP is a little out of date now, I've just never gotten around to posting an update. The whole thing has been resolved in the way everybody expected, i.e. FIFA said we do what we want. It's going ahead on turf. For a while there was some discussion on installing grass for the semis and final but the conclusion was that wouldn't be workable. The last heard I think five of the venue stadiums are fine as they are but the sixth has to have their pitch replaced with new turf. I suppose you've got laugh at that.

[kellan]

Algave/Cyprus/Istria Cups Day 2

Algarve
Japan 3-0 Portugal
Germany 2-0 China
Sweden 0-2 Brazil
France 4-1 Denmark
USA 3-0 Switzerland
Norway 1-0 Iceland

Cyprus
Canada 1-0 South Korea
Finland 0-0 Netherlands
Belgium 0-1 South Africa
Italy 3-2 Scotland
Australia 0-3 England
Czech Republic 0-1 Mexico

Istria
Costa Rica 0-0 France B

Streams for the Algarve games in all the usual places. First one kicks off at 12.10 local time.

[kavah]

The last final, Japan USA, was an epic game. I was in the U.S then and it seemed everyone watched it. The women's game is very popular there.

It's a shame about the artificial turf. As we all know it makes for a different game and is very hard on the players

[TheShanklyGates]

Are there likely to be many Liverpool players involved? Also will any of the matches be on television in the UK?

[kellan]

Are there likely to be many Liverpool players involved? Also will any of the matches be on television in the UK?

We have a few players in the England team. Asisat Oshoala plays for Nigeria and is one to watch out for. Couple of Norwegians but they're on the fringes of their national team so I don't think selection is likely. That's pretty much it unless we sign anybody between now and June. There are ex-Reds playing for the USA and New Zealand though. I'll throw a proper list together once squads are known.

The BBC will have full coverage.

[TheShanklyGates]

We have a few players in the England team. Asisat Oshoala plays for Nigeria and is one to watch out for. Couple of Norwegians but they're on the fringes of their national team so I don't think selection is likely. That's pretty much it unless we sign anybody between now and June. There are ex-Reds playing for the USA and New Zealand though. I'll throw a proper list together once squads are known.

The BBC will have full coverage.

Good stuff, appreciate the effort that has gone into the thread.

[Romeo Sensini]

The last final, Japan USA, was an epic game. I was in the U.S then and it seemed everyone watched it. The women's game is very popular there.

Interesting fact: the most watched football game in US history up until this World Cup was the Women's World Cup Final in 1999. I would also argue Mia Hamm is probably the most famous American footballer in the USA. Players like Alex Morgan and Hope Solo are probably more well known than all of our men's players, albeit not always for the best reasons.

All that said, the US team looks to be in a bit of a mess. Ever since Sundhage left results have been underwhelming. Dreadful in last year's Algave and some poor results in the past few months. I watched the England friendly and the US didn't look very convincing.

They won today 3-0 against Switzerland. Nice goal from Amy Rodriguez.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/PGmmF4DSsC8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/PGmmF4DSsC8</a>

[afc tukrish]

...the US team looks to be in a bit of a mess. Ever since Sundhage left results have been underwhelming. Dreadful in last year's Algave and some poor results in the past few months. I watched the England friendly and the US didn't look very convincing.

Pia left quite the mess, and did not do a particularly convincing job while in the position. The football was fucking horrible. And neither the Scot nor whoever-the-fuck-Jill-Ellis is have improved things.

Dreading the World Cup, really. Although I suppose the very direct, reliant on pace and the dubious example of Hopeless in goal might work perversely well on turf. If there is one team equipped both to create and benefit from a plethora of second balls and to prevent teams from playing skillfully and slowing the game down, it's the US...

[Romeo Sensini]

Pia left quite the mess, and did not do a particularly convincing job while in the position. The football was fucking horrible. And neither the Scot nor whoever-the-fuck-Jill-Ellis is have improved things.

Dreading the World Cup, really. Although I suppose the very direct, reliant on pace and the dubious example of Hopeless in goal might work perversely well on turf. If there is one team equipped both to create and benefit from a plethora of second balls and to prevent teams from playing skillfully and slowing the game down, it's the US...

I would not be surprised if they did not even make it out of their group. Also plenty of time for Hope to get arrested again. The back-up keepers seem to be really dreadful too.

[kellan]

Pia left quite the mess, and did not do a particularly convincing job while in the position. The football was fucking horrible. And neither the Scot nor whoever-the-fuck-Jill-Ellis is have improved things.

Dreading the World Cup, really. Although I suppose the very direct, reliant on pace and the dubious example of Hopeless in goal might work perversely well on turf. If there is one team equipped both to create and benefit from a plethora of second balls and to prevent teams from playing skillfully and slowing the game down, it's the US...

I thought Sermanni was doing an okay job myself. People forget that he had the best part of two and half years to ready the side and was fired after just 15 months, either because somebody spat their dummy or because USSF shit the bed. Maybe both. He looked a hell of a lot more competent than Ellis does anyway. I know which one I'd rather have.

They looked a little improved against England but that is only because England were still smarting badly from being embarrassed by a German B team on the Wembley stage so they opted to do a 90 minute backs to the wall bus parking exercise to make sure they didn't get battered again. I'll bet they couldn't believe their luck when they realised England weren't going to have a go. Norway didn't have a go in the first Algarve game this year either but then they are known for playing a defensive game. Switzerland are in shocking form at the minute so today's win can't be used to gauge anything.

They will probably play France in the Algarve final. If it is anything like the game they played last month France will torment them again.

[kellan]

Algave/Cyprus/Istria Cups Day 3

Algarve
Japan 1-3 France
Portugal 2-2 Denmark
Brazil 1-3 Germany
Sweden 3-0 China
Norway 2-2 Switzerland
USA 0-0 Iceland

Cyprus
Italy 0-1 Canada
Scotland 2-1 South Korea
South Africa 0-1 Czech Republic
Netherlands 1-1 England
Australia 3-0 Finland
Mexico 0-0 Belgium

Istria
Costa Rica 0-1 Wales

[PhaseOfPlay]

Germany look physically dominant again. Another cycle of champions perhaps? A good number of 21-24 year olds in the squad. Sasic is some player as well.

[kellan]

Algave/Cyprus/Istria Cups - Final Placement Matches - 11 March

Algarve
1st/2nd - France vs USA
3rd/4th - Germany vs Sweden
5th/6th - Norway vs Denmark
7th/8th - Brazil vs Japan
9th/10th - Switzerland vs Iceland
11th/12th - Portugal vs China

Cyprus
1st/2nd - Canada vs England
3rd/4th - Italy vs Mexico
5th/6th - Australia vs Czech Republic
7th/8th - Scotland vs Netherlands
9th/10th - Finland vs South Africa
11th/12th - South Korea vs Belgium

Istria
9th/10th - Republic of Ireland vs Costa Rica

[Romeo Sensini]

For those interested in the USA, the France/USA match is on Fox Sports 1 at 12:00 noon, before the Champions League matches.

[PhaseOfPlay]

For those interested in the USA, the France/USA match is on Fox Sports 1 at 12:00 noon, before the Champions League matches.

That'll be a good game. Wambach up against Renard. That could be some contest.

[Yet to prove himself as...]

Germany look physically dominant again. Another cycle of champions perhaps? A good number of 21-24 year olds in the squad. Sasic is some player as well.

The Popp-Sasic-Marozsan trio looks frightening good. They r big favorites for me to win it again and Popp ll be top scorer.

[Romeo Sensini]

USA won 2-0. They converted their chances despite not looking threatening and poor in possession. France looked toothless.

[Chakan]

USA! USA! USA!

'Merica!

[kellan]

Algave/Cyprus/Istria Cups - Final Placements

Algarve
1st - USA 2-0 France
3rd - Germany 2-1 Sweden
5th - Norway 5-2 Denmark
7th - Brazil 4-1 Switzerland
9th - Japan 2-0 Iceland
11th - Portugal 3-3 (8-7P) China

Cyprus
1st - England 1-0 Canada
3rd - Mexico 3-2 Italy
5th - Australia 6-2 Czech Republic   
7th - Scotland 3-1 Netherlands 
9th - Finland 2-1 South Africa   
11th - South Korea 1-1 (5-3P) Belgium

Istria
9th - Republic of Ireland 2-0 Costa Rica

[ncred]

USA! USA! USA!

'Merica!

glad we won, but I'm not convinced our coach knows what she is doing.

[kellan]

All the squads are in. OP updated with the links.

Only two LFC players will be there: Fara Williams (England) and Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria)

[Seebab]

Just goes to show how important this competition is regarded when Toronto decides it prefers to host the 2015 Pan Am games over this. It's a real shame.

[kellan]

Just goes to show how important this competition is regarded when Toronto decides it prefers to host the 2015 Pan Am games over this. It's a real shame.

Canada have a friendly against England tonight in Hamilton. Perhaps that is Toronto trying to have the best of both worlds.

Kick off is at 7pm local/Midnight UK. I think it's on TSN in Canada. Red Button and BBC Sport website in the UK.

[4pool]

Six Womens World Cups

USA have made the semi finals all 6 times.

Germany 4 out of 6.

Norway 4 out of 6

Sweden 3 out of 6.

I'l take a wild stab and say USA, Germany, Norway, Sweden will be the Semi Finalists. With maybe Brazil to be the outsider.

[OOS]

This astroturf pitch is crap. Doing no one any favours.

[downtown]

It's absolutely unbelievable that Toronto passed on opportunity to host ANY sort of game for the stupid, irrelevant Pan Am games.

This all happened even before the Ford era. I can't wrap my head around that. Canada's biggest footballing community won't even get to host a game at the world cup.

[ColdSteel]

Very much looking forward to this. Im off to the US / South Korea game later so hopefully the team impresses.

[afc tukrish]

Very much looking forward to this. Im off to the US / South Korea game later so hopefully the team impresses.

By the by, this match has been moved to ESPN News due to college softball running over on the Deuce...

[afc tukrish]

Drew 0-0 at home to S Korea in the last friendly, sorry, Send-Off Series...

Ji Soyun was far and away the best player on the pitch, a clear and damning indictment of player development for the women, and let's be honest, then men as well, in the US.

Of course, Tobin Heath can play-make a bit, but Herself Ellis apparently does not trust her.

Playmakers and technique in general are such a hassle, let's just throw on a few more players who can run and pump balls into the box.

[ColdSteel]

By the by, this match has been moved to ESPN News due to college softball running over on the Deuce...

I wonder what ESPN will do once the U.S. gets knocked out in the group stage, which judging by what I saw yesterday is most likely to happen.

Totally agree with your assessment too. Alex morgan will be the only chance of advancing out of the group.

[Romeo Sensini]

I wonder what ESPN will do once the U.S. gets knocked out in the group stage, which judging by what I saw yesterday is most likely to happen.

Totally agree with your assessment too. Alex morgan will be the only chance of advancing out of the group.

ESPN won't change anything since the games are on FOX Sports 1 this cycle. 

You will get to enjoy Stoner, Alexi and Wynalda. A month of cringe.

[kellan]

I wonder what ESPN will do once the U.S. gets knocked out in the group stage, which judging by what I saw yesterday is most likely to happen.

Totally agree with your assessment too. Alex morgan will be the only chance of advancing out of the group.

Well that's them screwed then because she isn't fit for the start and hasn't played properly for months. At best she will be a second half sub for the duration of the group stage.

[kellan]

Results of the warm up friendlies from the last week or so:

Mexico 2 - 1 Coasta Rica
Switzerland 1 - 3 Germany
Japan 1 - 0 Italy
France 1 - 0 Scotland
Mexico 3 - 0 Costa Rica
Norway 2 - 0 Finland
Canada 1 - 0 England
Sweden 2 - 1 Netherland
USA 0 - 0 Korea Republic