Over six million UK viewers tuned in to watch the opening match of Group D at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup between rivals England and Scotland on Sunday, the highest viewership ever for a women's soccer game in the United Kingdom.
After finishing in third place at the 2015 World Cup, advancing to the semifinals of Euro 2017 and, most recently, capturing the 2019 SheBelieves Cup on U.S. soil, England approached this summer’s World Cup with expectations at an all time high.
Since there are 24 teams participating in the 2019 Women’s World Cup, the knockout format is slightly different than the men’s format. To ensure 16 teams make it to the knockout stages, out of the six groups, four of those groups have three out of the four teams in the group go through the to the knockout stages. The way these four teams are chosen is simple: The third-place teams with the most points out of the six move on to the knockout stages.
The best young women’s player on the planet is from a town in Scotland with a population of 33,698 inhabitants, and that’s what makes our beautiful game so glorious. How is 20-year-old Erin Cuthbert this good? How has she managed to lift Scotland to its first-ever Women’s World Cup appearance? Why isn’t she the talk of the global footballing community?
Celtic had another historic season in Scotland. The Hoops beat Rangers to the title and qualified for the Champions League yet again. Even with the departure of now-Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers, Neil Lennon kept Glasgow’s green and white on course and kept the Scottish Premiership trophy on the green side of Glasgow.
When Germany takes to the pitch in Rennes, France, on June 8 to open its Women’s World Cup campaign against China, it’ll do so wearing a jersey that’s synonymous with triumph in German footballing lore. For most, the style evokes memories of Italia ’90, the men’s World Cup where Germany went on to capture its third title in that competition.
The Edinburgh Derby, the fierce rivalry between Hearts of Midlothian and Hibernian, saw its 645th edition played on Saturday at Tynecastle Stadium, home of Hearts.
The match didn’t quite have the fireworks of their meeting in November, which saw an assistant referee assaulted, a coach hit by a coin and a goalkeeper punched by a fan.
But there was a coconut.
The first Old Firm Derby of 2019 was fiery and passionate as ever. Rangers travelled to Celtic Park with hopes of catching up to its hated rivals in the SPL title race on Sunday. The match did not disappoint. A total of six cards came out of the ref’s pocket, two of them red.
Scottish football has been the butt of the joke in the British Isles for quite some time now. The Scottish Premier League, or SPL, has been trying to fight the stereotype that Scottish football is terrible via an active YouTube page. The Scottish national team has been including new and talented young players that ply their trade in a diverse number of high level leagues across Europe in order to show that Scottish football is indeed quality.
With Rangers drawing 0-0 with St. Johnstone on Saturday, Celtic took to the pitch Sunday knowing that a victory over Kilmarnock would open up an eight-point gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership with only seven matches remaining before the league splits into two sections for the final five games.
Accordingly, it was a furious game at Kilmarnock’s Rugby Park which saw two players sent off. First, Kilmarnock’s Kirk Broadfoot was sent off in the 75th minute for a late challenge on Scott Brown.