WWC Days 1-4: First Round Goes to Europe

Three games on Tuesday – concluding with the 2pm U.S. opener against Thailand – finish up the first matches for all 24 teams at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.

That 2pm game is the real tournament opener for a lot of American fans, and it should be a happy one, against a team whose biggest asset is that nine of them play their club soccer together at Bundit Asia.

But a lot has already happened, and if one game hasn’t yet sealed anyone’s fate, some trends seem to be emerging. There was certainly a consistent theme to the first two days: All four games in Groups A and B saw highly-ranked teams from Europe – including two of the overall favorites in France and Germany – score relatively comfortable wins over lower-ranked teams from Africa and Asia. (See up-to-date standings below.) Days three and four highlighted the other continents, though the Europeans have continued to thrive: England held off a feisty Scotland, but both teams impressed, and Italy scored the first upset – in the best game of the tournament thus far – with a 95th-minute goal to complete a comeback win over fifth-ranked Australia.

The Aussies will probably be OK, but with Japan failing to impress in a scoreless draw with Argentina (tabbed as perhaps the worst team here), and China looking pretty much useless in a drab shutout loss to Germany, Asia has laid an egg thus far, and Thailand, as noted above, is unlikely to redeem their fortunes today against the U.S. But Europe, where especially Italy, Spain, and Netherlands (who open play tomorrow as well), appear to really be benefiting from the investment their major club teams have put into the women's leagues over the last several years.

Lastly, Canada looked like a pretty complete team in their Monday opener, though they could only manage a 1-0 win over Cameroon. It was West Virginia alum Kadiesha Buchanan who scored for Canada; UT’s Julia Grosso didn’t see any action.

Game Results

Fri., June 7
France 4, South Korea 0

Sat., June 8
Germany 1, China 0
Spain 3, South Africa 1
Norway 3, Nigeria 0

Sun., June 9
Italy 2, Australia 1
Brazil 3, Jamaica 0
England 2, Scotland 1

Mon., June 10
Argentina 0, Japan 0
Canada , Cameroon

Remaining Schedule

Tue., June 11: New Zealand-Netherlands, 8am; Sweden-Chile, 11am; USA-Thailand, 2pm
Wed., June 12: Nigeria-South Korea, 8am; Germany-Spain, 11am; France-Norway, 2pm
Thu., June 13: Australia-Brazil, 11am; South Africa-China, 2pm
Fri., June. 14: Japan-Scotland, 8am; Jamaica-Italy, 11am; England-Argentina, 2pm
Sat. June 15: Netherlands-Cameroon, 8am; Canada-New Zealand, 2pm
Sun., June 16: Thailand-Sweden, 8am; USA-Chile, 11am
Mon., June 17: Germany-South Africa, Spain-China, 11am (Group B); France-Nigeria, Norway-South Korea, 2pm (Group A)
Tue., June 18: Italy-Brazil, Jamaica-Australia, 2pm (Group C)
Wed., June 19: England-Japan, Scotland-Argentina, 2pm (Group D)
Thu., June 20: Cameroon-New Zealand, Netherlands-Canada, 11am (Group E); USA-Sweden, Thailand-Chile, 2pm (Group F)
Round of 16:
(with projected matchups in parentheses)
Sat., June 22, 10:30am, 1B-3ACD; 2pm, 2A-2C (Germany-?, Norway-Brazil)
Sun., June 23, 10:30am, 1D-3BEF; 2pm, 1A-3CDE (England-?, France-?)
Mon., June 24, 11am, 1F-2B; 2pm, 2E-2F (USA-Spain, Sweden-Netherlands)
Tue., June 25, 11am, 1C-3ABF; 2pm, 1E-2D (Australia-?, Canada-Japan)
Quarterfinals:
Thu., June 27, 2pm (England-Brazil???)
Fri., June 28, 2pm (USA-France???)
Sat., June 29, 8am (Australia-Canada???) & 11:30am (Germany-Netherlands???);
Tue., July 2, 2pm semifinal
Wed., July 3, 2pm semifinals
Third place: Sat., July 6, 10am;
Final Sun., July 7, 10am

Women’s World Cup Group Standings

Pts, (W-D-L, Goal Differential)
Group A
3 France (1-0-0, +4)
3 Norway (1-0-0, +3)
0 South Korea (0-0-1, -3)
0 Nigeria (0-0-1, -4)
Group B
3 Spain (1-0-0, +2)
3 Germany (1-0-0, +1)
0 China (0-0-1, -1)
0 South Africa ( 0-0-1, -2)
Group C
3 Brazil (1-0-0, +3)
3 Italy (1-0-0, +1)
0 Australia (0-0-1, -1)
0 Jamaica (0-0-1, -3)
Group D
3 England (1-0-0, +1)
1 Japan (0-01-0, 0)
1 Argentina (0-1-0, 0)
0 Scotland (0-0-1, -1)
Group E
3 Canada (1-0-0, +1)
0 Netherlands (0-0-0)
0 New Zealand (0-0-0)
0 Cameroon (0-0-1, -1)
Group F
USA (0-0-0)
Sweden (0-0-0)
Thailand (0-0-0)
Chile (0-0-0)