Today is the start of the 2019 Women’s World Cup. In case you haven’t filled out your bracket or need some more reading to hold you over we have you covered.
Making a bracket purely on rankings or just picking teams who have always won is not any fun nor what we think this World Cup will have in store. We have broken down the bracket into how we think it will all shake out. We have plenty of upsets and a title match we don’t think many will predict. We may be foolish and have our brackets busted before this thing really even starts, but we’ve done some research and think this is what the 2019 Women’s World Cup will look like.
Let’s take a look at how we think the groups will pan out starting with Groups A, B, and C
France will be tested some by Norway and Korea Republic, they may even get a tie as a result, but they win the goal differential and settle in to win the group. Norway vs Korea Republic will be an interesting matchup, but Norway will win the battle and thus the two seed specifically due to their veteran leadership in the back. Nigeria will not go down quietly and will put up a good fight. They’ll score goals and keep a game close, but they will not get a win in this group. Korea Republic will earn enough points to become one of the three seeds who advance.
Group B will be ran by Germany who will continue to do well in World Cup play. Some people believe Spain will beat out China PR for the two spot, but the inexperience of Spain and the calm demeanor the Chinese play will help them deny Spain the two spot. South Africa will enjoy their first World Cup, but this will not be the first time they see a knockout round.
Australia and Brazil have had history in the World Cup with Brazil winning the last time in 2015. But Australia has improved whereas Brazil is on the decline. Brazil has aged bodies and untimely injuries most importantly to Marta, their best player. Australia will have no trouble securing the top spot. Brazil will falter against Australia but still come out of the group in the second spot. Italy will outlast Jamaica to get a three seed, however it will just be for constellation because neither team will advance to the knockout round. Italy will not be one of the three seeds who advance.
If you want to see our group previews click: Previews
Groups D, E, and F look to have some upsets and big ramifications for the knockout round.
In years past Japan would be the clear favorite over England. Japan is the one who defeated England in the 2015 World Cup in the semifinals. England will use this motivation and earn the top spot in Group D. Japan will still rely on their ability to breakdown teams with precision passing and technical skills, thus awarding them second place in the group. Scotland will beat out Argentina for the third spot in the group and come out of the group with enough points and goals to move onto the round of 16.
Group E might be the most interesting Group in the World Cup. Their top ranking teams are the closest with Canada at five and the Netherlands at eight. Everyone needs to have the June 20th matchup between these two teams circled. Netherlands are peaking at the right time and just beat Australia 3-0. Canada will fair well but will not be able to defeat the Netherlands and ending up in second for Group E. New Zealand will quietly pass through the group getting a tie with Canada possibly and earning enough points to advance. Cameroon will join the rest of the African nations in not advancing to the knockout round.
Sweden vs the United States seems a bit overdone but it will be the key matchup of the group. They will play each other in the last game of the group allowing the United States to tinker more with their defense and earn the top spot. Sweden will do well to get second place. Chile and Thailand will not advance out of the group. Sweden and the US will prove too much for them and they will earn minimum points.
The group stages will be over and the matchups will be set for the round. Let’s take a look at the left side of the bracket.
Brazil will run out of gas and their injuries/age will catch up to them. Norway will advance to the quarterfinals. Their opponent will be England who will be looking to get past the semis this World Cup. New Zealand as a 3 seed will not be able to stay with England and all of their offensive weapons.
In the lower portion of the bracket France will ride the emotions of being at home all the way to the finals. It also helps that they have one of the most complete teams in the world and have proven themselves against top opponents. Scotland will not be able to stop France in the first round. The United States will play the two seed of group B, China PR. Unfortunately China will not have enough power or counters for the US offense. The game everyone is already focused on is the quarterfinal of the United States vs France. A shame that they will have to face off so early in the tournament. The US showed last World Cup they peak at the end of the tournament and they will not be at their best against France. A weak group for the US and a fairly strong group for France will not help the US chances. Look for France to win and then face of against England in the semis.
England, who lost in the 2015 World Cup to a late own goal will hopefully not have the same late problems but the result will be the same. France will test England and push the tempo against their European rival. France will come out on top and reach their first World Cup final and England will once again play for third place.
The right side of the bracket will cause some surprises as well and provide a new foe for France.
Australia will be able to have a strong showing in the Round of 16 and get passed Spain who will see the knockout round of 16. The Netherlands will ride their first place finish in Group E, having beaten Canada to earn it. Japan isn’t the same team they’ve been in the past World Cups and will not advance out of the first round. Thus creating the matchup from just before the World Cup started Australia vs Netherlands. The Netherlands won pretty easily and all though Australia will try to convince everyone that game was just a learning curve the Netherlands will defeat Australia to enter the semis.
Germany will be their usual selves and advance on by beating South Korea. They will then face Canada who defeat Sweden. Just like the US, Sweden will not benefit from their lesser group. Canada will try to bounce back from losing the top spot in their group to the Netherlands. The experience and grit of Canada will win out. Canada who is used to earlier exits than they would like will not fair well against a powerful Germany who will have too much talent for Canada to overcome.
The Netherlands and Germany will face off in the semifinals. Germany lost to the United States last World Cup in the semis. They will try to use their experience and usual success to get by a Netherlands team that will have never made it this far before. Netherlands will play like the rookie who doesn’t know what they don’t know. The pressure of needing to get back to the finals will be too much for Germany.
Germany and England will play once again for third place this time Germany will have some revenge and win the third place match.
France vs the Netherlands for the 2019 Women’s World Cup final. France will be ignited by a supportive country and propelled to do what their male counterparts did just a summer ago. The Netherlands, who by all accounts should not be here and had some worried when they finished 11th place out of 12 in the Algarve Cup will come ready. It’ll be a battle of a new champion. It will be competitive and most likely not have the same hat trick in the first half like the last World Cup had, but it will live up to expectations. France will win out and be the first country to win the World Cup on home soil since 1999.