Group D makes for an interesting lot: England and their opponents. First Scotland because I’m sure there’s some rivalry. Plus there’s talk of a possible Great Britain team for women’s football at the 2020 Summer Olympics. But before any talk of possibility, one of the two teams will have to be among the Top 3 UEFA teams at this Women’s World Cup in order to earn an Olympic berth. Then start talking! Also the opponent of Argentina, mainly because of the ‘hands of God’ goal. Hmm. Do qualms of men’s football get transferred to women’s footfall? I can’t say. Then there’s Japan. If you remember at the semifinals at the last WWC, defender Laura Bassett accidentally scored a last-minute own goal in the English net to send Japan to the 2015 final. Bet that still bites.
Anyways it could turn out Group D is not all about England. All four teams have their own qualities. Here’s my review of Group D:
-England (3): England is a country that has long seen football as a man’s game. The women’s team is changing that and they have made a lot of improvements in recent years. At the last Women’s World Cup, despite Laura Bassett’s costly fumble, they won the bronze-medal match. They made it to the semifinals of Euro 2017 losing to eventual champions Netherlands. This year, they won the She Believes championship in the United States.
The Three Lionesses have had a lot of ups and downs since March 2018. They’ve won matches against France, Spain, Brazil, Denmark and Japan. However they’ve also lost to Sweden, Canada, United States and New Zealand. 2019 could end up being their best Women’s World Cup ever if they deliver each and every time.
-Scotland (20): Scotland is a team that is just starting to get experience and starting to make a name for themselves. However there are a lot of signs that bigger and better is yet to come. This may be their first WWC, but they had their first Euro in 2017. They didn’t advance past the Group Stage, but they did beat Spain. Also they finished 5th in this year’s Algarve Cup.
Scotland even topped their WWC qualifying group, beating out Switzerland who qualified for 2015. These past twelve months Scotland have had losses to top teams like Canada, Norway and the United States, but they’ve also had wins against Iceland, Brazil and Jamaica. Scotland could end up being one of the surprises of France 2019.
-Argentina (37): Argentina may have one of the most legendary men’s team but football for women is slow to progress. They’ve only been in two Women’s World Cups, 2003 and 2007, and lost all their games. They also lost all their games at their only Olympic appearance in 2008. Argentina’s first win of the Copa America Feminina was back in 2006. There are signs of future improvement as Argentina finished 3rd at the Copa Feminina last year.
In the last twelve months, Argentina’s wins have all been against national teams from South America. They’ve had losses to Australia, South Korea and Brazil. Argentina comes as one team with low expectations. This Women’s World Cup could be a learning experience for them, or they could pull some of the biggest surprises this WWC. Only time will tell.
-Japan (7): A lot of the talk in this group is about England. You should not ignore japan. Japan won the 2011 Women’s World Cup and was a finalist at the last WWC. They also won Olympic silver and two straight Women’s Asian Cups during that time. However they did have some setbacks as they failed to qualify for the 2016 Olympics.
In the past twelve months, Japan’s play has had a lot of ups and downs. They won matches against Brazil, Norway, New Zealand and South Korea. They even had draws against Spain, Germany and the United States. However they’ve also had a loss to the United States as well as to Brazil, Australia and France. This Women’s World Cup will be a chance for Japan to add another chapter to their team’s story.
MY GROUP PLAY PREDICTIONS:
This was not an easy guess. I predict England to top Group D. Second will go to Japan. Third is tough to decide but I feel I best go with Scotland.
And that completes my look at Women’s World Cup Group D. Just two more groups to review. I guess I’m doing better than I thought!
-Australia (6): If there’s one team that knows how to show improvement, it’s the Matildas. In fact they showed it at the 2015 World Cup by beating Brazil in their Round of 16 match: their first ever knockout-game win. Australia made it to the quarterfinals at the Olympics too with their best scoring result. They’ve also been runners-up at the last two AFC Women’s Championships.
-Italy (15): The Azzurre have a long way to go to catch up with the legacy of the Azzuri. They’ve never qualified for the Olympics and the last time they competed in a Women’s World Cup was in 1999. On top of that, the last time they qualified for the quarterfinals of the Women’s Euro was back in 2013. 2017 was a case of out in the Group Stage.
-Brazil (10): Brazil is a team that has experienced a lot of ups and downs over the years. Back in the previous decade, they showed themselves to be a nation on the move by being a finalist at the 2003 World Cup and winning Olympic silver medals in 2004 and 2008. However things have gotten to a downturn. They were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2011 WWC and in the Round of 16 in 2015. At the Rio Olympics, they looked like they were well on their way to gold in the Group Stage, but finished fourth.
-Jamaica (53): The Reggae Girlz are coming here for their very first World Cup. Remarkable because there have been many years Jamaica wouldn’t enter a women’s football team for the Women’s World Cup, or not even the CONCACAF Women’s Championship. The women’s team have shown a lot of improvement lately as they finished third at last year’s CONCACAF championships.
-Germany (2): Germany has been seen as one of the best women’s teams consistently. They’ve been in all seven previous World Cups and won twice. In 2016, they won their first Olympic gold medal after three bronzes. They’ve been in the Women’s euro all ten times and won eight. However it’s not to say they’ve had some inconsistencies too. The last World Cup where they finished in the Top 3 was their winner in 2007. Also a year after winning Olympic gold, they were beaten in the quarterfinals of Euro 2017 by Denmark. Even the best have an Achilles heel.
–China, People’s Republic of (15): China is another team that experienced big success when women’s football started establishing itself in the 1990’s. They dominated in the 90’s, but have been set back in recent years. There was even a brief time at the beginning of this decade, they didn’t qualify for either the World Cup or the Olympics. Recent years have shown an improvement with China as they made the Round of 16 at the last World Cup and the quarterfinals at the 2016 Olympics.
-Spain (13): Spain’s women’s team is a team just starting to enter the stage of women’s football. In fact their appearance at Canada 2015 was their very first WWC. It was a learning experience for them as they left with two losses and a draw. In the women’s Euro, they did have one semifinals appearance all the way back in 1997. They were able to qualify for the last two Euros and finish in the quarterfinals both times. However the most recent Euro was another case of scraping by as their only win came against Portugal.
-South Africa (49): South Africa is one of four teams making their Women’s World Cup debut. South Africa has competed in the Olympics twice in 2012 and 2016. South Africa has also been runner-up five times in the CAF Women’s Championship.
-France (4): France is a team waiting for their first ever major international moment. Their best Olympic finish is fourth in 2012, their best World Cup finish ever is fourth in 2011, and they’ve never made it past the quarterfinals of a Euro ever!
-South Korea (14): South Korea is a team not to be underestimated. Sure, they’ve never qualified for an Olympics, but they did achieve a Round of 16 result at the last World Cup and they have had a third-place finish at the Women’s Asian Cup.
-Norway (12): Norway was one of the great teams when the Women’s World Cup was starting. They won the second WWC back in 1995 and the second-ever Olympic gold in women’s football back in 2000. Returning to their glory days has been a struggle. The last Olympics they competed in was in 2008. They have finished runner up in the 2013 Women’s Euro only to lose out in the Group Stage in 2017.
-Nigeria (38): Nigeria leads the pack in terms of African teams in women’s football. They’ve won the CAF Women’s Championship all but two times. Nigeria is searching for its first major international breakthrough. The best they ever did at a WWC was a quarterfinals finish 1999. Their best Olympic finish was the quarterfinals of 2004.
Jon The Blogcentric 