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posted Saturday, December 4, 2010 at 12:58pm PST on �A Women�s Pro Sport That is Growing�
Is this the best women’s World Cup field ever?
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posted by All White Kit All White Kit offers coverage of women's soccer around the world from a fan's perspective. AWK will feature the latest news, analysis, and commentary on the women's game. Match reports, scores, schedules, standings and opinion pieces will be on share. We aim to become a resource for any follower of women's soccer. |
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The draw for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be conducted tomorrow in Frankfurt, Germany. It will be broadcast live on FIFA.com from 19.25 GMT and on ESPN3.com from 1:40 ET.
This is the final time the FIFA Women’s World Cup will feature 16 teams before the field expands to 24 teams in the 2015 World Cup cycle. With the rapid rise of development of women’s soccer around the world in the past four years, most notably in Asia, this could be the most competitive mix of teams yet.
How so? Below is a list of the 16 qualified teams and their best ever World Cup finishes.
Australia (Quarterfinals 2007)
Brazil (Runners-Up 2007)
Canada (Semifinals 2003)
Colombia (Debutants)
England (Quarters 1995, 2007)
Equatorial Guinea (Debutants)
France (Group Stage 2003)
Germany (Champions 2003, 2007)
Japan (Quarters 1995)
Mexico (Group Stage 1999)
New Zealand (Group Stage 1991, 2007)
Nigeria (Quarterfinals 1999)
Norway (Champions 1995)
North Korea (Quarterfinals 2007)
Sweden (Runners-Up 2003)
United States (Champions 1991, 1999)
A total of just five teams (or 30%) has failed to ever make it to the quarterfinals. That includes the two debutants Colombia and Equatorial Guinea and group stage departees New Zealand, France and Mexico. France is a bona fide dark horse, Mexico has a solid mix of youth and experience and Colombia is a true wild card. In other words, none of those teams are guaranteed to flame out in the group stage. That means that former World Cup staples will be threatened like never before.
Eight teams included in the above list will be eliminated in the group stage. That will inevitably include former quarterfinalists and perhaps even semifinalists. The question is which eight?
The pots have been divied up here. Germany, Japan, the United States and Brazil have been seeded in Pot 1. Australia, North Korea, Canada and Mexico are in Pot 2. Pot 3 contains the “weakest” group with Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, New Zealand and Colombia. Pot 4 has the European powers with England, France, Sweden, and Norway.
It’s almost guaranteed that every group will have at least three teams who have advanced to the knockout stage at one point in time. Only two can advance, however. Every group will be a group of death.
View Original Post at allwhitekit.wordpress.com
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This post is related to the following ongoing stories:
- 2011 World Cup Qualifying
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