The eighth Women’s World Cup kicks off (literally) on June 7 in Paris. From the teams taking part to the players who are expected to shake things up on the pitch, here’s everything you need to know about France 2019 and the biggest event in women’s soccer.
The Women’s World Cup Started In 1991
The FIFA Women’s World Cup has been held every four years since 1991, when the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Championship, as it was then called, took place in China.
The senior women’s national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport’s international governing body, compete for the trophy. The first instance of a Women’s World Cup dates back to 1970, when the first international tournament was held in Italy during the month of July. A year later, another unofficial tournament took place in Mexico.
A lift on the ban on women’s football in numerous countries throughout the 1970s resulted in new teams around Europe and North America.
Team USA Was The First Winner
The 1991 FIFA Women’s World Championship in China was sponsored by Mars candy and won by the United States after they defeated Norway 2-1 in the final before a 65,000-strong crowd at Guangzhou’s Tianhe Stadium. U.S. forward Carin Jennings (formerly Carin Gabbara), who retired in 1996, was named player of the tournament and received the Golden Ball, while Michelle Akers took the Golden Boot for scoring both goals in the final match.
The 2019 Cup Will Be Held Across Nine French Cities
The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the eighth edition of the tournament, will be hosted by France for the first time.
Bidding to be the host country began in 2014 when member associations were invited to submit a declaration of interest. England, France, Korea Republic (what FIFA calls South Korea), New Zealand and South Africa did so; it was later narrowed down to France vs. Korea Republic.
Matches will be held in nine French cities, including Paris, Lyon, Nice and Montpellier. The biggest stadium is Lyon’s Parc Olympique Lyonnais, which has a capacity of 59,186.
Team USA Is the Defending Champion
The U.S. team enters the 2019 tournament as the defending champion, following their 5-2 victory over Japan at BC Place, in Vancouver on July 5, 2015. The win was their first in 16 years and made the U.S. the only nation to have won in three Women’s World Cup finals (they previously won in 1991 and 1995). The match got off to a great start for Team USA, with four goals inside the opening 16 minutes.
Group B Will Include Germany, China, Spain And South Africa
Germany has qualified for every Women’s World Cup finals competition and is the second-favorite to take home the trophy, after Team USA.
France 2019 is South Africa’s first Women’s World Cup, and they’ll be raring to go after finishing second behind Nigeria at the 2018 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON).
China ranks 16th in the world, but they have some great players, including Li Yun who scored seven goals in just five appearances at the 2018 AFC Asian Women’s Cup.
Spain won all eight of their qualifying games, but won’t have the skills of star player Vero Boquete to rely on — she didn’t make the team.
Group E: Canada, Cameroon, New Zealand And Netherlands
Cameroon made an impressive Women’s World Cup debut at Canada 2015, and the team will be counting on African Player of the Year Gaelle Enganamouit to drive it through the group stage.
France 2019 is the seventh-consecutive finals for Canada, who finished runner-up in the CONCACAF qualifying tournament to secure its place and is ranked fifth in the world.
The Netherlands comes into the competition strong, as current European champion with superb dribbler Lieke Martens, who was voted Best FIFA Women’s Player in 2017, in its arsenal.
One of the most experienced teams in France 2019 is New Zealand — six of its players have more than 100 caps, and they’re led by 29-year-old Ria Percival at 138.
How Team USA Got There
The road to France was a straightforward one for Team USA. To secure qualification, it beat Mexico 6-0, Panama 5-0 and Trinidad and Tobago 7-0 before a 6-0 victory over Jamaica in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Women’s Championship. A 2-0 win over Canada in the final clinched an impressive eighth regional title — no other country has ever won more than two. Team USA also scored the most goals (26) of all participating teams.
Players To Watch On Team USA
Team USA has a wealth of talent.
In 2018, two Americans (now on the roster) were on the shortlist for the inaugural Women’s Ballon d’Or: forward Lindsey Horan and midfielder Megan Rapinoe (though they lost out to Ada Hegerberg of Norway).
All eyes will be on 20-year-old forward Mallory Pugh (below), who joined the full Women’s National Team at the age of 17, which made her the youngest player to debut for USA in 11 years.
Carli Lloyd, 36, has the most Women’s World Cup experience, with 18 matches under her belt; she scored six goals at Canada 2015.
The Threat From ‘Les Bleus’
With no group stage opponent ranked higher than 12th place (the Norwegians), the French, nicknamed Les Bleus, are expected to progress without too much difficulty. In recent competitions, they made it to the quarterfinals in each of the 2017 UEFA Women’s Championships, the 2016 Olympics and the 2015 World Cup.
Although France automatically qualified as the host nation (thus avoiding the qualification stages), they’ve performed well throughout friendlies, winning all but one of their past 14 matches.
The German Contenders Are Strong
Only four nations have won the Women’s World Cup since it began in 1991, and Germany has done it twice; it’s the only nation apart from the U.S. to win more than one.
The Germans bounced back from their semifinal defeat at Canada 2015 to win gold at Rio 2016 against Sweden and reach the quarterfinals of the 2017 Women’s Euros, where they lost to Denmark. However, they lost their matches with France and USA at the 2018 SheBelieves Cup, which explains why they’re only third-favorites to win at France 2019.
England Is In The Running
The products and services mentioned below were selected independent of sales and advertising. However, TheDelite may receive a small commission from the purchase of any products or services through an affiliate link to the retailer's website.
European soccer expert and “Soccermatics” author David Sumpter, who developed the “Soccerbot” model to predict matches, thinks England could give Team USA a run for its money.
England has a strong attack and defense, has won eight of its last 10 matches and has conceded one goal or less in 11 of its last 12 matches.
“England should have no trouble advancing through the group stage in France,” Sumpter told SportsLine.
Brazil Has The Best Player Of All Time
While Brazil only has odds of 20-1 to win the Women’s World Cup, they have a very talented squad, plus one of the most experienced players in the whole tournament: Marta Vieira da Silva, who has been named world player of the year six times and has scored the most goals (15) in Women’s World Cup history.
She currently holds the record for most all-time awards — male or female — and is such a legendary player that she’s known around the world simply as “Marta.”
This Is The Greatest Women’s World Cup Goal Of All Time
FIFA held a vote on its website to find out fans’ greatest Women’s World Cup goal of all time, and the honor went to Mónica Ocampo for her long-range strike in Mexico’s opening match against England at Germany 2011.
In second place was Song Xiaoli’s goal for China PR in their first match of the 2007 tournament they hosted, with Carli Lloyd’s halfway line goal for Team USA in the final at Canada 2015 ranking third.
To date, a grand total of 771 goals have been scored in the history of the Women’s World Cup, but it won’t be long before that number rises.
Canada Holds The Record For Attendance
Attendance at the Women’s World Cup has fluctuated over the years.
At the inaugural tournament in China PR in 1991, the average attendance was 19,615. The highest average attendance was at USA 1999 (37,319), and at Canada 2015 it was 26,029. But in terms of total attendance, Canada 2015 set a new record of 1,353,506; the biggest turnout was for the Canada vs. England quarter-final in Vancouver, which was attended by 54,027 people.
Millions Are Expected To Tune In
Each Women’s World Cup has seen an uptick in viewership and attendance. In 2015, 764 million in-home TV viewers watched at least one minute of match action from Canada, according to FIFA and KantarSport.
France 2019 Has A Familiar Feathered Mascot
This year’s official mascot is ettie, the daughter of Footix, who was the mascot for the 1998 Men’s World Cup in France. Her name stems from étoile, the French word for star, as she came from the bright star Footix was awarded for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
FIFA describes ettie as a “young chicken with a passion for life and football.” FIFA also says, “Her strong family connection to the Gallic rooster, who is still a popular national French symbol, makes her a fitting choice as the Official Mascot for the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019.”
There’s More Prize Money—But Not As Much As Men
Team USA received $2 million for winning the Women’s World Cup in 2015. However, this is a fraction of the $35 million the men’s champions, Germany, took home in 2014.
FIFA has doubled the women’s prize money for 2019, meaning the winners will get $4 million, and the overall prize fund has also increased — from $15 million in 2015 to $30 million. It’s still dwarfed by the men’s prize money, which was $400 million for the 2018 World Cup, where winners France banked $38 million.
The world players’ union FIFPro said in a statement that “football remains even further from the goal of equality for all World Cup players regardless of gender.”
France 2019 Will Be Debut For Video Assistant Referee
The 2019 tournament will be the first to use the video assistant referee (VAR) system, after it was approved by the FIFA Council following its use at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. VAR, which consists of a team of three people who watch video replays of on-pitch incidents in order to review particular referred decisions, is designed to eliminate debate, but some say it has created even more controversy.
How To Watch The Women’s World Cup
Fox has the Women’s World Cup broadcast rights in the U.S. and will broadcast all English-called matches on Fox, FS1 and FS2. Telemundo and Universo will broadcast the matches in Spanish. You can also access all channels online using fuboTV, where you can sign up for a free trial. The first match of the tournament is France vs. Korea Republic on June 3, and Team USA makes their France 2019 debut against Thailand on June 11.
