Official 2015 Women's World Cup Thread

[GirlySports]

The 2015 Women's World Cup will be in Canada from June 6 to July 5
http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/

Venues:
Vancouver (BC Place)
Edmonton (Commonwealth Stadium)
Winnipeg (Canad Inns Stadium)
Ottawa (TD Place)
Montreal (Olympic Stadium)
Moncton (Moncton Stadium)

Qualified Teams:

CONCACAF : Canada (Hosts), USA, Mexico, Costa Rica
UEFA: Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, Spain, England, Switzerland, Netherlands
CONMEBOL: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador
AFC: Japan (Holders), China, South Korea, Australia, Thailand
CAF: Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire
OCEANIA: New Zealand

There is a live press conference today from Gatineau on the FIFA Channel at 11am Mountain that will address the draw procedure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQI8Ca7aZ10

Tomorrow (Saturday) at 10am Mountain on TSN will be the World Cup draw at the Canadian National Museum in Gatineau, QC. The draw will be presided by FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke and former Canadian international Kara Lang.

[nfotiu]

I wonder if anything will come of the lawsuit to play on grass. Seems like a shame that they've gone this route.

I always have wondered why Commonwealth Stadium went to turf. I thought they took a lot of pride in having a pristine field that made it a premiere international soccer venue.

Would have been nice if they could have figured out a way to at least have the semi finals and finals on grass.

[GirlySports]

It's a shame but nobody else bid for this event. I think the players would be more happy to play in front of big crowd than what surface it is. In 2011 in Germany the total attendance was 800000. Canada is hoping for 1.5 million. The money generated from attendance will go further to develop the sport.

As was said in the press conference, you can't compare anything to the Men's World Cup. That event pays for everything. 4.5 Billion dollars revenue is was said.

[GirlySports]

Draw Procedure

Pot 1: Canada (A1), Japan, USA, Germany, France, Brazil
Pot 2: Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire, New Zealand, Mexico, Costa Rica
Pot 3: Australia, China, South Korea, Thailand, Ecuador, Colombia
Pot 4: England, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland

Rules:
Mexico and Costa Rica cannot go into Canada or USA's group
Ecuador and Colombia cannot go into Brazil's Group
Whichever Ecuador or Colombia that comes out first must go into Japan's group

Here's is an article from Christian Jack, The ideal group for the seeded teams to be in is Group D. Winners of Group A and D do not have to play another group winner until the semifinals. The worst Group to be in is E.

http://www.tsn.ca/jack-the-joys-of-f...-draw-1.152183

Dream Group: Canada, Ecuador, Thailand, Switzerland
Death Group: Canada, Nigeria, Australia, Sweden

[GirlySports]

Its starting. There is a national anthem for the draw!

[transplant99]

LOL...whoops!!

[transplant99]

So....is this a decent group for Canada Girly?

[GirlySports]

Its a pretty easy group for Canada.

USA got my death group!

The guy did the draw way too fast so he messed up

[d_phaneuf]

so the US got the best draw? shocking

[MillerTime GFG]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

so the US got the best draw? shocking

No they got a tough draw. Canada got a great group!

[Mango]

Canada's playing China in January at the Four Nations tournament in Yongchaun.

Interesting to see how John Herdman will approach that match.

Canada has beat all three of those teams in their last meetings, but that was 2 to 2.5 years ago. Regardless, it's a very favourable draw for Canada.

I hope people can make the trip to Edmonton. It's priced well, is a short drive and the Canadian women are an incredible group of athletes and people.

[AndyM]

Originally Posted by Mango

Canada has beat all three of those teams in their last meetings, but that was 2 to 2.5 years ago. Regardless, it's a very favourable draw for Canada.

Didn't Canada's coach used to coach New Zealand?

[Mango]

Originally Posted by AndyM

Didn't Canada's coach used to coach New Zealand?

Yes, from 2005 to 2011. Many of his current assistant coaches worked with him in that program.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by MillerTime GFG

No they got a tough draw. Canada got a great group!

meant the D1 spot that the article Girly posted above had, they avoid any group winners, if they win the group, until the SF

[GirlySports]

Format of Group D is a weird. Winner Group D gets a 3rd place team in the 16s and a 2nd placed team in the quarters.

2nd Group D gets Winner Group E right away in the 16s.

[octothorp]

Canada as the 8th-ranked team faces the 14th, 15th, and 19th, team in their group.

So, if Canada finishes first (A1), here's how the knockout stage unfolds:

In the round of 16, they'd play the 3CDE team (will always be C3, if C3 qualifies... 9 of 15 scenarios, otherwise it's equal chance between D3 and E3). C3 or E3 is ideal, as C3 could be unranked Cameroon or #49 Ecuador, also a chance of #18 Switzerland. D3 is a worst-case scenario, as it's probably #10 Australia or even #5 Sweden.

In the quarterfinals, they'd most likely play the winner of 2B vs. 2F. Baring upsets, that likely puts them against either #7 England, or #9 Norway. (Bad upsets could result in #2 Germany or #4 France here, while good upsets could result in any of some much worse teams ending up here. But one of England or Norway seems most likely.)

In the semi-finals, they'd then play the winner of a bracket that includes C1, E1, and D2 (potentially #3 Japan, #6 Brazil, #5 Sweden, or even #1 US if they finish 2nd in their tough group).

All of which means, IMO, that if you're rooting for Canada to win, you want the following reasonable scenarios to occur:
Canada to win their group stage, (giving them the best path possible)
Germany, USA, and France to win their groups, (ensuring Canada won't see them until the finals.)
3C to qualify for the 2nd round, whether it's Switzerland, Cameroon, or Ecuador (ensuring Canada doesn't play the 3D team in the round of 16).

As an extra, unlikely scenario, you'd like Japan and Brazil to finish 2nd in their groups, putting them in the opposite side of the bracket from Canada.

[browna]

Glad they got a good group to start off and gain some confidence.

Let's be honest here; after their London performance, anything less than a spot in the Final now, being at home and everything, will be considered by a "casual fan" (that's the group TSN is going to be pumping this up, wrapping themselves in the flag for the next 6 months) as a big let down, however grossly unfair that is, given their #8 world ranking.

Extreme pressure as a result, especially considering Canada hasn't gotten out of the WC group stage since 2003, when Women's soccer was a lot different.

You'd like to think that the field turf, that's making the Americans so butt hurt over, may be a home field advantage since I assume they'd have the most experience in playing on through practices and home friendlies here.

[GirlySports]

There is also travel.

First in Group A means Canada goes
EDM, EDM, MTL, VAN, VAN, EDM, VAN to the final against easier opponents

Second in Group A means Canada goes
EDM, EDM, MTL, EDM, OTT, MTL, VAN to the final against harder opponents (quarterfinal in OTT would probably be against USA)

Third in Group A means Canada plays Germany right away... not good.

[Acey]

@FIFAWWC BREAKING! 500,000+ fans have now claimed their #WWC seat. #Canada2015 on way to hitting its goal: 1.5m spectators.

I'm excited. Plan on going to the first games here in Edmonton.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I wonder if anything will come of the lawsuit to play on grass. Seems like a shame that they've gone this route.

I always have wondered why Commonwealth Stadium went to turf. I thought they took a lot of pride in having a pristine field that made it a premiere international soccer venue.

Would have been nice if they could have figured out a way to at least have the semi finals and finals on grass.

I'm pretty sure the women have given up on that battle. I remember hearing something about them dropping the lawsuit a little while ago.