Tournament begins today in France and runs through the final on Sun, July 7th. The USWNT is the defending champion and is the the current favorite to repeat. But this tournament, despite missing the best player in the world, will be the most competitive in the history of the competition. List of odds for each team: Spoiler USA 7-4 France 7-2 Germany 11-2 England 7-1 Japan 16-1 Netherlands 16-1 Australia 20-1 Sweden 25-1 Brazil 25-1 Spain 25-1 Canada 30-1 Norway 40-1 China 60-1 Italy 80-1 South Korea 150-1 New Zealand 150-1 Scotland 150-1 Nigeria 500-1 Chile 500-1 Argentina 500-1 Cameroon 1,000-1 South Africa 1,000-1 Jamaica 1,000-1 Thailand 2,000-1 France, Germany, and England are very strong and Japan isn't far behind. Every game of the tournament will be on FS1 or Fox. USWNT Schedule in Group F (Thailand, Chile, Sweden) Tuesday 6/11 @ 2 pm on Fox Sunday 6/16 @ 11 am on Fox Thursday 6/20 @ 2 pm on Fox *times are CST USWNT Roster: Spoiler 2019 USA FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP ROSTER BY POSITION (Club) GOALKEEPERS (3): Adrianna Franch* (Portland Thorns FC), Ashlyn Harris** (Orlando Pride), Alyssa Naeher** (Chicago Red Stars) DEFENDERS (7): Abby Dahlkemper* (NC Courage), Tierna Davidson* (Chicago Red Stars), Crystal Dunn* (NC Courage), Ali Krieger*** (Orlando Pride), Kelley O’Hara*** (Utah Royals FC), Becky Sauerbrunn*** (Utah Royals FC), Emily Sonnett* (Portland Thorns FC) MIDFIELDERS (6): Morgan Brian** (Chicago Red Stars), Julie Ertz** (Chicago Red Stars), Lindsey Horan* (Portland Thorns FC), Rose Lavelle* (Washington Spirit), Allie Long* (Reign FC), Samantha Mewis* (NC Courage) FORWARDS (7): Tobin Heath*** (Portland Thorns FC), Carli Lloyd**** (Sky Blue FC), Jessica McDonald* (NC Courage), Alex Morgan*** (Orlando Pride), Christen Press** (Utah Royals FC), Mallory Pugh* (Washington Spirit), Megan Rapinoe*** (Reign FC)
In my opinion, I think the USWNT are like the Patriots and Warriors of women’s soccer. The majority of European and Asian women’s teams are kinda somewhat closing the gap. But Latin America teams like Mexico and the CONMEBOL except Brazil are still way behind when it comes to women’s soccer.
Is this Julie Foudy calling the game this morning? She is annoying me sprinkling in odd terms to sound like a British announcer -- 'that ball was perfectly cultured...'. 'that shot was absolutely perfectly cultured into the corner of the net'. WTF please stop.
I'd agree with that comparison. The COMNEBOL teams and the rest of CONCACAF, outside of Canada, have not made anywhere near the investment the US, Asian, and UEFA teams have. The leagues over there are getting very good. I'm actually surprised that more of our women don't go over there to play. There's still a huge gap between the top and bottom of this tourney...but that's closing.
Jap team are using the WC for nurturing young talents/for practice so I am not sure they will win big. Korea looked pretty bad in the opening game despite being the No. 14 in FIFA ranking while France was No. 4.
The only thing FIFA rankings indicate, men's or women's, is that you have a team in FIFA. It's probably even less an accurate measure for the women than the men because of the lack of coverage in many areas. Congrats to Italy on their first World Cup win in 20 years and a pretty big upset over Australia with a 95th minute goal.
That was the Harlem Globetrotters vs the Washington Generals. USA left some goals on the table, too. Looking forward to the game against Sweden when we can see some real competition, but not before I put some action on the over vs. Chile. France vs. Norway tomorrow should be very good.
Well that wasn't very nice of us. 13-0? In a World Cup? That's just freakin crazy. We at least know that goal differential won't be an issue.
A question for you, Leroy: do you think that a game like this hurts the perception of the women's game? We know it's top-heavy and that other countries are still developing their women's federations, but does this hurt the sport in any way? Should FIFA contract the size of the field in the women's World Cup when it's clear that teams like Thailand are going to get the crap kicked out of them on an international stage? I don't know the answer, I'm just curious. I think there is a benefit to having women from places like Thailand play for something, but I don't think there's a benefit to losing 13-0.
I wouldn’t look too much into it. Thailand is happy to be there. They’ve had no success ever, men or women. So being in a Cup is good enough. There’s still so much development to happen in the women’s game. Being on this stage, regardless of the outcome, is a good thing for countries like Thailand. Also...sometimes, you’re just going to get the s*** kicked out of you. I don’t see how making the field smaller would help. The USWNT is such a technically and tactically superior team, a smaller field wouldn’t change anything. You have to be technically better when in smaller spaces since there is less room for error. If I’m playing a team I know is more talented, I’d rather the opportunity to spread them out rather than allow them to be constantly closer to goal.
I didn't know anything about Rose Lavelle or Mallory Pugh... I was impressed. Those 5 goals by Alex were insane. She made it look easy and I know it wasn't. After watching the first half I thought they'd end the game with 8, but 13? Holy cow this team is deep. Carli Lloyd off the bench? Seriously.. wow. Solid looking team so far this year.
