The warning signs are there for the USWNT ahead of tomorrow’s opener against Thailand: Yesterday, Italy shocked Australia to record its first Women’s World Cup win since 1999. Today, Argentina gathered its first-ever WWC point by playing to a 0-0 draw with 2015 finalist Japan.
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.
With an average age of 26 years and six months across the board, this is the oldest makeup of players in the history of the Women’s World Cup. Brazil is a key contributor to that stat with the second-oldest squad in France, and the veterans include Mônica (32), Marta (33), Cristiane (34) and Formiga (41).
The Seleção kicked off its campaign today against Jamaica in Grenoble, and although Marta missed out due to a thigh injury, Brazil still triumphed 3-0 thanks to huge performances from Formiga and Cristiane.
Australia, the dark horse candidate of many at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, suffered a shock defeat to Italy, making its first finals appearance since 1999, to begin Group C play in France. Australian captain Sam Kerr gave her side an early lead by following up her own saved penalty, but Italy’s Barbara Bonansea scored twice in the second half — including the winner five minutes into stoppage time — to give the Azzurre a dream start.
What hurts more, a man getting kicked in the crotch or a woman giving birth?
It’s a question that is just about impossible to answer accurately. Determining pain thresholds for men compared to women is about as easy to do as herding cats, and it’s an issue scientists for decades have struggled to even appropriately consider.
Germany has had its fair share of legendary players. The two-time Women’s World Cup champion has produced some of the tournament’s greatest all-time players, from Heidi Mohr to Birgit Prinz. Giulia Gwinn might be the next in that list after her rocket goal gave Germany a 1-0 win over China on Saturday.
Die Nationalelf, one of the tournament favorites ranked No. 2 in the world, dominated possession and had countless chances throughout the match, but it was a moment of brilliance that saved them against the 1999 runners-up, who themselves were dangerous on the counter.
The Women’s World Cup began Friday with host France dismantling South Korea 4-0. It was a thrilling show from Les Bleues, who put down a marker as the team to beat this summer.
But all ESPN.com wants to talk about is Eden Hazard and Euro 2020 qualifiers.
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.