And just like that, another year goes by and we have a completely brand new Oscar race. On Wednesday morning, we will learn of the Oscar nominations. The day when we learn of the contenders for the Best Picture and the ‘final five’ for all the other categories. There have been a lot of surprises and shockers with the other awards shows and their nomination announcements. Funny how their shockers get dwarfed by the shocks and snubs of the Academy Award nominations. Some people are fearing another surprise nomination like Andrea Riseborough’s last year. If you remember that, the nomination was so surprising and shocking, the AMPAS even held an inquiry about it and its campaigning. What can I say? The more the Academy starts cracking down on unfair campaigning strategies, the more creative campaigners get in achieving ‘new ways.’
This year’s Oscar awards will be awarded on Sunday, March 10th. That should give a good forty days between the nominations and wins. In the meantime, here are my predictions for this year’s Academy Award nominations:
BEST PICTURE American Fiction Anatomy Of Al Fall Barbie The Holdovers Killers Of The Flower Moon Maestro Oppenheimer Poor Things Saltburn The Zone Of Interest
BEST DIRECTOR Bradley Cooper – Maestro Greta Gerwig – Barbie Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer Martin Scorsese – Killers Of The Flower Moon
BEST ACTOR Bradley Cooper – Maestro Colman Domingo – Rustin Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers Barry Keoghan – Saltburn Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer
BEST ACTRESS Lily Gladstone – Killers Of The Flower Moon Sandra Huller – Anatomy Of A Fall Carey Mulligan – Maestro Margot Robbie – Barbie Emma Stone – Poor Things
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Sterling K. Brown – American Fiction Robert de Niro – Killers Of The Flower Moon Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer Ryan Gosling – Barbie Mark Ruffalo – Poor Things
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Emily Blunt – Oppenheimer Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple Jodie Foster – Nyad Rosamund Pike – Saltburn Da’Vine Joyce Randolph – The Holdovers
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Sammy Burch – May December Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer – Maestro David Hemingson – The Holdovers Celine Song – Past Lives Justine Triet and Arthur Harari – Anatomy Of A Fall
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach – Barbie Andrew Haigh – All Of Us Strangers Cord Jefferson – American Fiction Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer Eric Roth, Martin Scorsese and David Grann – Killers Of The Flower Moon
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE The Boy And The Heron Elemental Ernest and Celestine: A Trip To Gibberitia Nimona SpiderMan: Across The SpiderVerse
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Matthew Libatique – Maestro Hoyte van Hoytema – Oppenheimer Rodrigo Prieto – Killers Of The Flower Moon Robbie Ryan – Poor Things Linus Sandgren – Saltburn
BEST COSTUME DESIGN Jacqueline Durran – Barbie Ellen Mirojnick – Oppenheimer Holly Waddington – Poor Things Jacqueline West – Killers Of The Flower Moon Janty Yates and David Crossman – Napoleon
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE American Symphony Beyond Utopia The Eternal Memory Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie 20 Days In Mariupol
BEST FILM EDITING Nick Houy – Barbie Jennifer Lame – Oppenheimer Yorgos Mavropsaridis – Poor Things Thelma Schoonmaker – Killers Of The Flower Moon Michelle Tesoro – Maestro
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM Fallen Leaves – Finland Society Of The Snow – Spain The Taste Of Things – France 20 Days In Mariupol – Ukraine The Zone Of Interest – United Kingdom
BEST MAKEUP and HAIRSTYLING Golda Killers Of The Flower Moon Maestro Oppenheimer Poor Things
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE Ludwig Goransson – Oppenheimer Daniel Pemberton – SpiderMan: Across The SpiderVerse Robbie Robertson – Killers Of The Flower Moon Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt – Barbie John Williams – Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny
BEST ORIGINAL SONG “The Fire Inside” – Flamin’ Hot “I’m Just Ken” – Barbie “It Never Went Away” – American Symphony “Road To Freedom” – Rustin “What Was I Made For?” – Barbie
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN Asteroid City Barbie Killers Of The Flower Moon Oppenheimer Poor Things
BEST SOUND Barbie Ferrari Killers Of The Flower Moon Maestro Oppenheimer
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS The Creator Guardians Of The Galaxy – Volume 3 Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part One SpiderMan: Across The SpiderVerse
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM Eeva Letter To A Pig Once Upon A Studio Pete WAR IS OVER! Inspired By The Music of John And Yoko
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT The ABC’s Of Book Banning The Barber Of Little Rock Deciding Vote The Last Repair Shop Last Song From Kabul
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT The After The Anne Frank Gift Shop The Shepherd Strange Way Of Life The Wonder Story of Henry Sugar
Just like I did in past years, I not only did predictions for the nominees but also possible upsetters in most of the categories. Those who’ve tracked Oscar nominations over the years will be very familiar with upsetters. So here are my picks for the potential upsetters:
BEST PICTURE The Color Purple May December Past Lives
BEST DIRECTOR Jonathan Glazer – The Zone Of Interest Alexander Payne – The Holdovers
BEST ACTOR Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction Leonardo DiCaprio – Killers Of The Flower Moon
BEST ACTRESS Fantasia Barrino – The Color Purple Annette Bening – Nyad
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Willem Dafoe – Poor Things Charles Melton – May December
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Penelope Cruz – Ferrari America Ferrara – Barbie
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Alex Convery – Air
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Jonathan Glazer and Martin Amis – The Zone Of Interest Tony McNamara – Poor Things
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE Super Mario Brothers Movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Rodrigo Prieto – Barbie
BEST COSTUME DESIGN Lindy Hemming – Wonka Francine Jamison-Tanchuk – The Color Purple
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Bobi Wine: The People’s President
BEST FILM EDITING Laurent Senecal – Anatomy Of A Fall
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM Io Capitano – Italy The Teacher’s Lounge – Germany
BEST MAKEUP and HAIRSTYLING Napoleon
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE Jerskin Fendrix – Poor Things
BEST ORIGINAL SONG “Dance The Night” – Barbie “Superpower (I)” – The Color Purple
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN Saltburn
BEST SOUND Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part One Napoleon
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS Napoleon Poor Things
Those are my predictions for the nominations for the 2023 Academy Awards. The nominees will be revealed the morning of Tuesday the 23rd. Makes who wonder what will create more social media action? The ones that got nominated or the ones that got snubbed? Stay toond!
Just when you thought the group play was loaded with shockers, the shockers of the 2023 Women’s World Cup didn’t end there. Starting with the Round of 16, one of the first shockers was Spain humiliating Switzerland 5-1. Spain was the favorite but that big of a margin was a shock. Possibly the biggest shocker of all was the US playing a scoreless game to Sweden and losing on penalty kicks with the last kick being conceded by a fraction of an inch! USWNT Tobin Heath put it best when she said “It may seem that we lost this game by a millimeter, but we lost this tournament by a mile.” Then came another favorite England also getting a scoreless draw, to Nigeria, and their top player Lauren James getting an instant red card. England sis win on penalty kicks but James will be out until the final or the 3rd-place match, whatever England qualifies for.
The quarterfinals also delivered their own shockers. The first quarterfinal, Spain vs. Netherlands, was expected to be a tough game and ended 1-1 in regulation. However added extra time provided the surprise as 19 year-old Spaniard Salma Paralluelo delivered the tie-breaking goal! Sweden’s 2-1 win over Japan wasn’t that surprising since the two are top-ranked teams and this would be a tight match. The shocker was just the fact of the game that Japan, the last former Women’s World’s Cup winner standing, was out! The following day, England’s win over Colombia wasn’t a shock but Australia achieving a scoreless draw over France and then winning on penalty kicks was. A delight for the host nation.
SEMIFINALS PREVIEW
Now onto focusing on the semifinals. One thing is certain before the semis begin. It’s clear we will have a first-time Women’s World Cup winner. The last to do so was Japan in 2011. Also these will be the first-ever semifinals of the Women’s World Cup without the U.S.A. present. Another surprising fact! For two of these nations, this is their first-ever semifinals qualification. All four have achieved a big win of some kind during this tournament but Spain is the only team to not need a win on penalty kicks in this Knockout Round. All four have shown off brilliant play but they’ve also shown some weaknesses in their WWC play too. So here’s a look at the four teams and my prediction for each semifinal:
SemiFinal #1: Spain vs. Sweden
Head-To-Head Stats:
Spain and Sweden have played each other eleven times before. Sweden won seven games. Spain has never won. Their most recent meeting has been a friendly in October 2022 which both teams drew 1-1.
Team-By-Team Analysis:
SPAIN: Up until a few years ago, Spain was not considered to be a major contender in women’s football. The men are known to shine, but their women were substandard. Sure, they may have finished in the semifinals of the 1997 Women’s Euro, but they were lackluster for a very long time. The turning point came a little more than ten years ago when the RFEF started taking the women more seriously. Starting with the 2013 Women’s Euro, the team made it to the quarterfinals. In 2015, they qualified for their first-ever Women’s World Cup, but it didn’t go well. They were out in the Group Stage and were the only European team that didn’t advance. Even after they were out in the quarterfinals of Women’s Euro 2017, they showed signs of improvement with a Round of 16 finish at the 2019 WWC. In the fall of 2021, La Roja ranked in FIFA’s Top 10 for the first time ever. Here in this Women’s World Cup, they made it to their first-ever semifinal. A big improvement over the last ten years!
La Roja have shown a lot of impressive play in this Women’s World Cup. They opened their group play with a 3-0 win over Costa Rica and a 5-0 win over Zambia. They did have a setback with a 4-0 loss to Japan. During the Knockout phase, they’ve been showing excellent teamwork and ball control with a 5-1 win over Switzerland and also rivaling Netherlands in the quarterfinal which they won 2-1 in added extra time.
Spain has blown past many people’s expectations and have won the respect of the world. The women can no longer be underestimated. Many people were surprised to see Spain rank in FIFA’s Top 10 but their play in the Cup have them proving they deserve it. It’s not to say Spain can’t be stopped. Don’t forget they lost 4-0 to Japan. Spain did an excellent job against the Netherlands showing they can win against top contenders. Now they’re onto Sweden who have played without a loss this Cup. Spain have to be just as strong as they were against Switzerland and the Netherlands if they want to win.
SWEDEN: If you want to talk about certain small nations and how impressive they are at football, you should talk Sweden. At the inaugural Women’s World Cup in 1991, they finished third. The semifinals would become common to see Sweden qualify for. They’ve done it for the fifth time in this Women’s World Cup! Very impressive since Sweden has a population of less than 10 million and this is only the ninth Women’s World Cup to be held. The Blåguld also has an impressive record of winning the last two Olympic silver medals and making it as far as the semi finals in nine of the twelve Women’s Euros.
Throughout this Cup, the Blåguld have been showing some of the best team play of all teams. They won all three of their Group Stage games with eight goals and only conceding one against South Africa. Then came their Round Of 16 match against the United States; the seventh Women’s World’s Cup meeting of the two. Both teams played to a scoreless draw and then Sweden won the penalty kicks 5-4. The quarterfinals saw them play against Japan who, like Sweden, also won all three of their group play games. It started with a goal from Amanda Ilestedt in the 32nd minute and Sweden didn’t look back winning 1-2.
Sweden have done a very good job in showing itself as one of the top teams here. They’ve shown excellent play and knew how to handle both the Americans and Japanese. It’s easy to believe that they will be the team to win the Cup. I think the one thing that could stand in their way is if they misjudge Spain. Spain have done an excellent job in their play in this Cup of attacking and controlling the ball. Sweden could easily misjudge Spain and it could end up the Spaniards would end up winning the game. That’s something Sweden won’t want. Especially if they want to make it to their second Final ever.
My Prediction: This really gives me time to do a lot of thinking but I will have to predict Sweden to win 1-0 in added extra time.
SemiFinal #2: Australia vs. England
Head-to-Head Stats: The two teams have rivaled each other six times. England have won three, there was one draw, and Australia have won twice. Their most recent meeting is worth noting. It was a friendly in Brentford, England which Australia won 2-0!
Team-By-Team Analysis:
AUSTRALIA: Australia making it to the semifinals has been a slow and steady process. Hard to believe, but they weren’t in the inaugural Women’s World Cup in 1991. Australia have been in every Women’s World Cup since. Their breakthrough came in 2007 when they qualified for the knockout round for the first time and they’ve done so in every WWC since. In 2015, the Matildas won their first-ever knockout match. Here at this WWC, they took it one step further by achieving their first-ever semifinals berth! First host nation to do so since the USA did it in 2003. Australia have also excelled in other tournaments such as winning the last three OFC Women’s Nations Cups before Australia switched to the AFC. After the switch, Australia have made it to the finals four out of six times and winning in 2010.
The Matildas have delivered play at this Women’s World Cup with a lot of ups and downs. They started their trip to the Cup well with a 1-0 win over Ireland but soon feel into trouble with a 3-2 loss to Nigeria. They knew they needed to win their last game over Canada, which they did 4-0. In the Round of 16, they faced Denmark and won 2-0. In the quarterfinals, they were up against more favored France. The game went to a scoreless draw but Australia won on penalties 7-6. Of all teams, Australia has done the most to defy expectations. They’ve been playing really well here but their play has been inconsistent. Except for their big win over Canada, most of their play has been pretty close. They may have had a scoreless draw against France but they can’t afford to push their luck here if they want to go to the Final.
ENGLAND: You figure a nation as football mad as England would have their women excel quite far. It wasn’t always the case in the past. Until 1972, England was one of a multitude of nations that forbid women to play the sport. Even as national women’s teams were starting to be formed in the 70′ and 80’s and the first Women’s World Cup was started in 1991, England wasn’t there. 1995 showed promise as the team made it to the quarterfinals, but they wouldn’t return to qualifying for the Women’s World Cup until 2007. Since their return, it’s been all uphill from there. In 2007 and 2011, they made it to the quarterfinals. In 2015, the Lionesses made it to their first ever semi-final and have never missed a semifinal since. Their improvements have also shown at the Women’s Euro as they have not missed one since 2001, made the semifinals three out of the six times finalists in 2009 and winners in 2022!
The Lionesses have delivered play here that will make one convinced they’ll be singing “It’s Coming Home” for the first time in Women’s World Cup history. They started their group play with conservative 1-0 wins over Haiti and Denmark. When it came to their last group game against China, they went all out and won 6-1. Their first knockout game was against Nigeria which led to a scoreless draw and England winning on penalty kicks 4-2. Their quarterfinal match was against Colombia which they won 2-1.
Playing conservatively worked well for England at the beginning of the Cup. Now they can’t take any more chances. It was evident after their scoreless game against Nigeria that they have to play like the Lionesses that dazzled everybody during the Women’s Euro of 2022. Besides they’re playing against Australia in the semifinal. They can’t forget their defeat to them because if they don’t play like they’re supposed to, they may lose again, and this is the worst time to lose.
My Prediction: This is too tough to say. Both teams know how to play well, but both teams have made their errors obvious during the Cup. I think this game will be a 1-1 draw with Australia winning on penalty kicks.
And there you go. These are my predictions for the semifinals of this Women’s World Cup. Hard to believe the final is less than a week away! Will the semis provide shockers of their own beforehand?
can you believe all the group stage games of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup have already been played and they’re now into the knockout stage? It went by faster than I thought! Before I give my predictions for the first set of knockout games, I’ll give my overview of the group play.
GROUP PLAY OVERVIEW
The Women’s World Cup has always had surprises but I don’t think there’s ever been a WWC with as many surprises as this! Did the change from a 24-team tournament to a 32-team tournament pave the path for all these surprises? Or would they have happened anyways?
I’ll mention the major surprises and shockers group by group. Starting with Group A, hosts New Zealand beat heavily favored Norway in their opening game. Then they’d lose in their next game to the Philippines! In Group B, Nigeria was more consistent than expected. Their consistency also included them beating hosts Australia 3-2. Australia’s comeback win of 4-0 over Canada meant Canada out! Group C was mostly expected with Japan and Spain qualifying. The unexpected was Zambia’s win over Costa Rica. Group D went mostly shock-proof until the end when England beat China 6-1. That also meant an unexpected early ouster for China!
Group E’s biggest shock was the USA not topping and giving less-than-spectacular play. The scoreless draw between the US and Portugal was the most shocking result. A Group F surprise was Jamaica qualifying. And they only scored a single goal! The bigger shock was Brazil not qualifying! Group G had the surprise of South Africa playing better than expected and their win over Italy helping them qualify. And to think the last group – Group H – had arguably the biggest shocks. Most notable Colombia’s 2-1 win over Germany and Morocco’s 1-0 wins over South Korea and Colombia. In the end it was Morocco and Colombia that advanced leaving favorites Germany and South Korea out!
What can I say? The group play gave us a mix of highlights and lowlights. Starting with lowlights, Vietnam and Haiti lost all three of their games and didn’t score a goal, the five red cards at this Women’s World Cup are already the most ever, Canada failed to advance for the first time since 2011, Brazil for the first time since 1995, and both China and Germany failed to progress for the first time ever! Yes, it’s something how three teams currently ranked in FIFA’s Top 10 are now out. Now onto the highlights. This Women’s World Cup so far has a goal average of 2.63 per game and crowd attendance averaging over 25,476 per game. For those that did qualify, Denmark qualified for the first time since 1995 and three nations, Jamaica, Morocco and South Africa, qualified for the knockout stage for the first time ever. This is also the first World Cup, men’s or women’s, that has three African teams in the knockout round and a Caribbean team for the first time ever at a Women’s World Cup! Even for those that didn’t qualify, there were seven nations that achieved their first-ever win of a Women’s World Cup game. Joining Morocco, Jamaica and South Africa as first-timers are hosts New Zealand, Philippines, Zambia and Portugal. And to think of all the teams at this Women’s World Cup, Zambia, Morocco and South Africa had the lowest FIFA rankings of them all!
ROUND-OF-16 FOCUS
Now onto focusing on the Knockout Round. The complicated thing about this Round of 16 round is that it’s not like your typical Round of 16. Every World Cup the Round of 16 sets up the path of the whole knockout round leading to the final. Whenever a single nation hosts a World Cup, the path is organized so that group play opponents don’t meet again until the Final. Now that two nations are hosting, that will make it hard to do so since the knockout round brackets are organized differently. It’s quite possible that group play opponents could meet as soon as the semi-final. And it’s happened before when Japan and South Korea co-hosted the men’s World Cup of 2002 and group opponents Brazil and Turkey did end up meeting again in the semifinal. Let’s hope we don’t get a similar situation here.
ROUND-OF-16 PREDICTIONS
Now that 48 matches have been played and the qualifiers for the knockout rounds have been decided, the only thing for me to do is now make predictions for which team will win which Round-Of-16 match. So here we go with my predictions! Matches will be in chronological order and my prediction for the winner will be bolded:
Switzerland (Group A winner) vs. Spain (Group C 2nd): Switzerland clinched to top of Group A through lackluster play. They started well with a 2-0 win against the Philippines, but was only able to do scoreless draws against Norway and hosts New Zealand. Spain had already secured their qualification with a 3-0 win over Costa Rica and a 5-0 win against Zambia. Their last game, against Japan, was there to decide first place in the group, which Japan won 4-0.
Now for the game, Switzerland and Spain have met only three times before. Spain winning twice and Switzerland the other time. I will have to say that Spain’s aggressiveness in their games may give them the advantage. Switzerland has given nothing away in the Cup but they’ve lacked in the scoring. I think that will hurt them in the end and that Spain will win.
Japan (Group C Winner) vs. Norway (Group A 2nd): Admit it. We all like it when a team wins all three of their group play games. Japan is that: 5-0 against Zambia, 2-0 against Costa Rica and 4-0 against Spain. Then again, we also like teams that come from behind and deliver. That was Norway. They started with a shocking 1-0 loss to hosts New Zealand and had a scoreless draw against Group A winners Switzerland. Game three was a case where the former champions from 1995 needed a win and nothing less to qualify. In their game aganst the Philippines, they delivered: 6-0!
This ia unique game. Two teams that have won the Women’s World Cup at least over ten years ago. The only previous time they met at the Women’s World Cup, in 1999, Norway won 4-0. In the nine previous times they met, Japan have won more often: 6 wins to Norway winning three times. Although I’m happy to see Norway come alive again, I pick Japan to win. They’ve been playing more solid.
The Netherlands (Group E Winner) vs. South Africa (Group G 2nd): This is one Round of 16 match consisting of two shockers. The first shocker is the Netherlands topping Groups E. The funny thing is that this match was anticipated to have the U.S. top Group E and was scheduled such so it would be at 10pm Eastern Time on Saturday for US viewing time. There are no guarantees in sport! The Netherlands proved that by beating Portugal 1-0, drawing against the U.S.A. 1-1 and beating Vietnam 7-0! The right stuff to top Group E. The second shocker is South Africa qualifying for the first time ever. They slowly but surely showed off their previously untapped strength starting with a 2-1 loss to Sweden, a 2-2 draw to Argentina and ending with a 3-2 win over Italy!
The Netherlands and South Africa have met eight times before. in all eight cases, the Netherlands won. Even though this is the best I’ve seen of South Africa, I still feel the Netherlands will win. Nevertheless it’s possible South Africa can make it go into added extra time.
Sweden (Group G Winner) vs. U.S.A. (Group E 2nd): Sweden topping Group G was a foregone conclusion. Even winning all three games against Italy, South Africa and Argentina was not unexpected. The U.S.A. finishing second in Group E was unexpected. They started with a decent 3-0 win over Vietnam, had a respectable 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, but the scoreless draw against Portugal was a shock and has fans nervous for the team.
Now don’t think that just because the U.S. finished second in their group, they will be out of the WWC soon. They finished second in their group in 2011 and would go on to play in the final. Now onto this match. Sweden and the U.S. are big-time rivals. They’ve met 43 times. Sweden won eight times. The U.S. won 23. As for the World Cup, the two have clashed at the Women’s World Cup six times before, including every WWC since 2003! Previous results are 4 U.S. wins, one Sweden win and one draw. This is a tough decision but will have to say Sweden. The U.S. can beat Sweden if they’re on. At this WWC, the US have been playing lackluster. If the U.S. are not on the ball in this match, it will be over sooner than they hoped and sooner than we all expected.
England (Group D Winner) vs. Nigeria (Group B 2nd): England continued to show why they’re ones to watch by topping Group D with nothing but wins: 1-0 over Haiti, 1-0 over Denmark and 6-1 over China! Nigeria proved themselves the surprise team of Group B starting with a scoreless draw against Canada, a surprise 3-2 win against Australia and a scoreless draw against Ireland to secure qualification. This makes it the third time Nigeria advance to the knockout stage here.
England and Nigeria have met three times before. The first time was at the 1995 Women’s World Cup which England won. The other two times, Nigeria won. The last time being in 2004. I give this to England. They’ve been playing better and delivering a better attack. I think this is theirs for the winning.
Australia (Group B Winner) vs. Denmark (Group D 2nd): Australia really felt the pressure of being the host nation. They started well with a simple 1-0 win against Ireland, then endured a shocking 2-3 loss to Nigeria. Australia knew they had to defeat Canada to stay alive and they did: 4-0! Denmark secured their qualification starting with a 1-0 win over China, then endured a 1-0 loss to England, but a 2-0 win over Haiti assured itself qualification.
The most interesting thing about this match is we have two teams that both had two wins and a loss in group play. The two teams have played each other a total of six times. Denmark won three times and there were two draws. Australia may have won only once but their win was back in October! I give this to Australia.
Colombia (Group H Winner) vs. Jamaica (Group F 2nd): Here’s a case of two teams that didn’t have high expectations but made it! Colombia started off with an unexpected 2-0 win over South Kore and then came and even more shocking 2-1 win over Germany! Their 1-0 loss to Morocco didn’t interfere with them topping their group. Jamaica is another surprise qualifier. They start with a scoreless draw against France, a 1-0 win over Panama and a scoreless draw against Brazil. That’s all they needed to qualify for the first time ever! They may have scored only one goal but boy does their defense speak volumes!
For my prediction for the win, Colombia and Jamaica have met only twice before. Their first meeting in 2018 was Jamaica winning. Their second meeting, at the 2019 Pan Am Games, was Colombia winning. For this I’ll predict Colombia. They’ve been scoring better better and playing harder. Jamaica appears to have a great defense but Colombia’s better scoring ability will eventually prevail in the end.
France (Group F Winner) vs. Morocco (Group H 2nd): France’s qualification is not a surprise. They did start with a surprising scoreless draw against Jamaica, but wins of 2-1 against Brazil and 6-3 over Panama was just what they needed to top Group F. Morocco is one of the biggest surprises of the whole Cup. They started with a disappointing 6-0 loss to Germany, but 1-0 wins over both South Korea and Colombia was just the right stuff to make them a surprise qualifier! Of the eight nations making their debut at this Women’s World Cup, Morocco is the only one that advances!
In searching for head-to-head stats of France and Morocco, I have been unable to find any information of them meeting before in the past. In the end, I will have to give it to France. They’ve been attacking and scoring better. Morocco has been a delightful surprise, but I think the surprise will end here.
QUARTERFINAL PREDICTIONS:
Provided the Round of 16 winners end up being exactly who I predicted, here are my predictions for the quarterfinals. I won’t do too much rambling with my quarterfinal predictions. Especially since the teams playing haven’t been decided. I’ll keep it brief:
Spain vs. Netherlands: Provided my predictions go right, I say Spain. Spain and the Netherlands have met ten times before with Spain winning five times and the Netherlands winning two. The Netherlands’ prowess seems to be fading a bit while Spain’s prowess has grown. That’s why I say Spain.
Japan vs. Sweden: This should be interesting. The two have met fourteen times before, including three at the Women’s World Cup. Japan has won five times. Sweden six. This could be tight as both teams have played strong but Japan has conceded nothing so far. I think Japan will win on penalty kicks.
Australia vs. France: Australia have done a better job at playing than expected, but France has shown better consistency. In the past, they’ve met eight times before. Australia winning four times and France winning three. I predict France to take this, but on added extra time.
England vs. Colombia: The only time England have ever played Colombia was in a Canada 2015 group game, which England won 2-1. The Colombian team has changed a lot since they met, but England has too. I think this will be a case of England winning in added extra time.
And there you go! Those are my predictions for the first two sets of knockout matches of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Will the knockout matches be as unpredictable as most of the group play results? We’ll just have to see!
This Women’s World Cup has been good, but crazy. The main crazy thing is the big time-zone separation between Australian/New Zealand time zones and the North American times. One good thing is I’m able to see at least five games of Canada or the US playing, or expected to play, during North American prime-time hours. Most of the time, the games will be held while I’m sleeping. In addition, all of the third-games of the group stage will be contested starting at times between midnight Pacific time to 4am Pacific time!
Another crazy thing about the game set-ups is the times and dates of some games. One thing I’m unhappy about is New Zealand vs. Philippines, a Group A game, was contested on July 25th while Australia’s second game, against Nigeria, was contested on the 27th. Isn’t it odd Australia played their second game on the same day all Group E teams played their second game? And Australia’s Group B? In addition all second games of Group D were.played on the 28th! I’d rather it be contested in the group’s order and that the games were on the opposite days. I don’t understand it. In addition, the third-matches of Group A will be contested before the last matches of Group H. What’s up with that? No complaint about Australia and New Zealand are host nations. My complaint is how they organized this.
Nevertheless I have been able to make my assessments on how the eight groups are going and what it needed to qualify for the knockout round. Keep in mind unlike the last two Women’s World Cups there’s no third-place wildcard berths. All groups are a case the top two and only the top two advance.
The way the group play looks after two games played by each team, three teams have enough game points to secure qualification, five teams have enough game results to guarantee elimination and the other twenty-four will need the third and final game to decide it all. So here’s how things look for each group so far. Qualified teams will be bolded and links to my blogs will be in the group titles:
Group A: All I can say right now is Group A is the group of surprises after two games played. First off, New Zealand. On opening day, both host nations won their games 1-0. The Football Ferns should be especially proud since their win against Norway was not only an upset, but made it their first-ever win of a Women’s World Cup match ever! And they’ve been in every WWC since 2007! Second surprise, Philippines winning against New Zealand. A debut team and they score a surprise 1-0 win against the hosts! And the Philippines team is the lowest ranked of the four in FIFA’s rankings! Third surprise, Norway. They had the highest FIFA ranking of all Group A teams and they’re at the bottom thanks to their loss to New Zealand and their draw to Switzerland! Did anyone expect that?
Right now none of the Group A teams have officially qualified. All four have chances to qualify and it’s very lengthy to explain all their chances. Switzerland has the healthiest chances of winning thanks to their 2-0 win over the Philippines and their scoreless draw against Norway. Drawing against hosts New Zealand is all they need to qualify. New Zealand could qualify with a draw, but it would heavily depend on the result of the game of Norway vs. Philippines. If the Philippines wins, Philippines will qualify instead. If Norway wins, New Zealand could still qualify, but it would depend on the draw’s score and the score of Norway’s win. Once again, it would be a number’s game. As I mentioned, Philippines could steal the berth from New Zealand if they win. but would need a big win of at least two goals over Norway to qualify. Norway is in the case of nothing less than a win to qualify and possibly a goal differential in the win of two goals or more should New Zealand draw against Switzerland. I said it wasn’t easy to explain it all!
Group B: Group B is another group of surprises! It all started with Australia playing one of the two openers. They won their March against Ireland 1-0. The next game, Canada vs. Nigeria, was a surprise as it ended in a scoreless draw. For the second games, Canada vs. Ireland did go as anticipated as Canada won 2-1, but Australia vs. Nigeria was the surprise. Nigeria won 2-3!
So with the final games to go, we have three teams that still have a qualifying chance. Nigeria has the best chances of qualifying with a win and a draw and their goal differential. The only way for Nigeria to fail to qualify is if they lose to Ireland and the Australia/Canada game is a draw. As for that game, it’s interesting to see how Australia will play against Canada in response to their loss to Nigeria. One thing is certain from the match is that the winner qualifies. As I mentioned before, both teams can qualify if they draw, but Nigeria will have to lose to Ireland for Australia to qualify. The only way for Canada to fail to qualify is if they lose to Australia and Nigeria beats Ireland. Also Ireland is out. Their elimination actually happened right after they lost to Canada. Even if they beat Nigeria, it won’t do it.
Group C: Two games is all it took to decide the two qualifiers. By winning their first two games Spain and Japan are officially going to the knockout round. Their third game, where they play each other, will be to decide who finishes first and second in the group and which Round of 16 games they play in. Whoever wins will top Group C. If a draw, Spain will top as it has a better goal differential by one goal.
With two losses, both Costa Rica and Zambia are officially out of the tournament. Their game on the 31st will be for pride and to decide third from fourth. And to score goals! Not only did both teams lose their first two games, but neither team had a goal scored for them! Their final game oughta make it happen!
Group D: One good thing about this group is that all four games ended with a win. One bad thing about this group is that all games have ended with scores of 1-0. Right now England is the team with the best qualifying chances after winning both their games. China and Denmark are in a stalemate with a win and a loss both. Haiti is not out of the running, but has the slimmest of chances after losing both their games.
The thing with this group is that none of the teams have guaranteed qualification yet. On that same token, none of the teams, Not even Haiti, have officially been eliminated. All four teams still have a chance and it’s complicated to explain. The easiest is that England wins over China or even draws against them and Denmark wins over Haiti. Your two qualifiers there. There’s also the chance England could lose to China and Denmark wins. Depending on what kind of win China has over England, goal differentials can give rise to the possibility of England not qualifying. There have been cases before in the men’s World Cup of three teams having two wins and a loss and one of those teams not advancing. Just ask the Algerian team of 1982!
The odds and ends don’t stop there. England could lose and Haiti could beat Denmark. That would lead to England and China qualifying. There’s even a possibility of Haiti qualifying, but it’s the slimmest of the slim chances. Haiti would not only need a good well-scoring win over Denmark, but also England would need to beat China! It has happened before at the men’s World Cup there was one team that won all three of their games and the other three teams had a win and two losses each. What can I say? This is the case where only the third game can decided it for all!
Group E: The crazy thing about having a group with two top-ranked teams is you think the qualifiers will be decided almost instantaneously. It seemed to be the case here as we have the two finalists from the last Women’s World Cup. Things did appear to go as planned as the US beat Vietnam 3-0 and the Netherlands beat Portugal on their openers. The US and the Netherlands meet and there ends up being a 1-1 draw to many people’s surprise. On top of it, Portugal made itself a contender for qualifying after their 2-0 win over Vietnam.
The craziest thing about this is that the Round of 16 and quarterfinals have only a single match in both cases aimed for an earlier-than-usual start time in anticipation that the US top Group E. The Round-of-16 match where the team that tops Group E is scheduled to be contested in Sydney at noon on Saturday August 6th and the quarterfinal featuring the winner of that match is to be held in Wellington on Thursday the 11th at 1pm. All for being contested live during American primetime television hours. I doubt the US will finish second or fail to qualify, but imagine if it does!
So with one game to go, we have three teams eligible to qualify. The US and the Netherlands have the best chances to qualify with both a win and a loss. They’re heavily favored to win their next games and a win would guarantee them qualification. One of the few ways any one of the teams could miss qualifying is if they both lose their games and the Netherlands would be out because of a lower goal differential than the US. The only other way is if the US loses their match to Portugal. Then Portugal and the Netherlands would qualify instead. Also to add, Vietnam is out. Even if they win against the Netherlands, it would be too much too late.
Group F: In this group, things started off slowly for France and Jamaica with their scoreless draw. Brazil pained the pole position with their 4-0 win over Panama, which included a hat trick by Aly Borges; the first hat trick of the Women’s World Cup. France knew they couldn’t waste any more chances and won 2-1 against Brazil. Jamaica also seized a moment of their own and won 1-0 over Panama.
As of now three teams still have a chance of qualifying. France has the best chances. Even if they draw against Panama, they will still be in there. The winner of the Brazil/Jamaica match will qualify. If a draw, Brazil will qualify because of its better goal differentials. The only way France can’t qualify is if both Brazil and Jamaica tie and France loses to Panama by a huge margin. It’s possible. As for Panama, it’s over for them. Even if they win over France, the other three teams already have better game points and goal differentials to qualify.
Group G: Winning its first two games is all Sweden needed to do to qualify for the knockout stage! Starting with 2-1 over South Africa and then 5-0 over Italy. As for the other three teams, they’re still all in contention. Italy may have lost 5-0 to Sweden but their 1-0 win over Argentina keeps them in second-place in the current Group C standings. The 2-2 draw between Argentina and South Africa is what keeps their qualification chances alive.
Even though Sweden has qualified, their final match against Argentina may be about their ranking. They could finish second if they lose and Italy win against South Africa, but Italy will need a super-big win over South Africa to make Sweden finish second in the group. As for all the other three teams, Italy has the best qualification chances. Most obviously, a win over South Africa will solidify their qualification. If Italy and South Africa draw, Italy could still qualify, provided Sweden doesn’t lose to Argentina. That 5-0 loss to Sweden really set them back and could cost them should that happen! Argentina and South Africa can still qualify but it must be nothing less than a win for either. South Africa has the advantage with goal differentials. Argentina would need a win of 2-0 or 3-1 to qualify if South Africa wins. What can I say? The slimmest of chances are still a chance!
Group H: If there’s one group that’s to be called the group of shockers, this group is it! The first game of Germany winning over Morocco was not a shocker, but the score of 6-0 was. The game of Colombia vs. South Korea resulted in a surprise win for Colombia 2-0. Game two provided even bigger shockers. In South Korea vs. Morocco, Morocco won thanks to a sixth-minute goal from Ibtissam Jraidi. The shocks didn’t end there as Colombia would beat Germany thanks in part to the winning goal of Manuela Vanegas in the seventh minute of added extra time in the second half!
One thing about this group is that all four teams still have qualifying chances and it will take the third games to decide it all. The team with the best chances is Colombia with their two wins. Even a draw against Morocco will solidify qualification. The only way Colombia could fail to qualify is if Germany wins their game and Morocco beats Colombia with a score of 4-0 or 5-1 or something similar. As for Morocco, the aforementioned scenario is one of only two ways they can qualify. No doubt Morocco needs a win to qualify, but to qualify even with as small of a win of 1-0, Germany will have to draw or lose against South Korea. As for Germany, those are the only ways they can fail to qualify. Despite having a win and a loss, their big 6-0 gives them some of the best chances to qualify.
As for South Korea, they have to be the biggest underachievers of this Cup. Ranked 17th in the world and not only lost both their games, but without a goal scored! Just how I mentioned in Group D how Haiti still has a chance to qualify, despite it being the slimmest of slim, Colombia’s win over Germany kept South Korea’s qualifying chances alive! Nevertheless the chance is very slim. Not only will South Korea need a win and for Colombia to win too, but their win over Germany will need a score similar to 5-0 or 6-1. Simply put, the win has to be by a margin of at least five goals! Talk about the slimmest of slim!
And there you have it. There’s a look at those that have made it and those that are still in contention. It’s not easy to explain, but group play is rarely an easy thing to explain. Sometimes it’s never obvious until the very end.
It’s a given. The year after we have the excitement of the men’s World Cup, we get the excitement of the Women’s World Cup the following year. While I had the unusual situation of watching the men’s games in coffee houses at 7am some days and during some unusually cold weather for a December in Vancouver, I will be watching most of the women’s games during hot summer nights! It always makes sense to watch either World Cup during the summer months. It just seems right. The main problem about trying to watch them live is the time-zone situation. There are a few evening games for us North Americans to watch live, but most will take place in the early mornings while we’re sleeping.
So far only two games have been played. None of the groups have completed their first matches, but both host nations played their first games on Day 1. Makes sense. Now the rest of the teams just have to start their games. I know I’ve been delivering previews to each of the Women’s World Cup groups. This is just simply a post with hyperlinks to all my group analyses. I will also post the two countries from each group I think will qualify for the knockout round. Here are the links:
Normally when I do my blogs on the Women’s World Cup, I mostly focus on the positive as the excitement builds up. Nevertheless I can’t avoid talking about the negative in women’s football that has happened in the last four years.
Women’s football has always been know to be a victim of sexism; always second-fiddle to the men. Nevertheless the last four years has seen a lot more awareness, activism, disputes and even legal battles involving national teams. Those of you who’ve read my previous 2023 WWC blogs have learned about the disputes involving national teams from Canada, the US and Spain. In the past four years other national teams have had disputes and achievements. Additional achievements include the Australian women’s team achieving better revenue distribution and equal accommodations as the men as well as 12-months maternity leave and Ireland achieving equal pay and equal tournament bonuses in August 2021. In addition, the 2027 Women’s World Cup will be the first WWC where player bonuses will be equal to that of the men.
Continuing problems include: England’s FA saying on July 3rd that England’s team will not receive bonuses for their performances within the tournament; the Jamaican women’s team not receiving enough financial support; Nigeria’s team being denied player bonuses for this Women’s World Cup as well as manager Randy Waldrum being denied more than a year’s pay; and South Africa’s team denied tournament bonuses from their Federation. The issues don’t end with equal pay. Most recently, Zambia’s coach Bruce Mwape was accused of sexual misconduct. I’m sure he’s not the only national coach guilty of it.
No question the issues of sexism are a problem with women’s football. The equal pay is a big challenge. Of course we shouldn’t forget that football is one sport with one of the biggest histories of sexism. Look at the men in football. They’ve always been on top of the world. Women, however, have a history of being forbidden to play football even up to the early-70’s. It isn’t until the start of women’s lib in the 70’s that breakthroughs for women happened, including sport. It was the 1980’s that more women’s national teams started forming and it was only until 1991 when women got their first Women’s World Cup. Sexisms like the lack of equal pay and the lack of attendance are examples of the slow drive to include women in the sport. That’s why I see events like the Women’s World Cup as ways to improve the sport of women’s football. Hopefully in the future, women’s football will be as much of a phenomenon as men’s football.
My next group of focus is Group G. This is one group consisting of one team that’s one of the traditional favorites and three other teams that are working to build their strength on the world stage. Two are nations who have two of the most legendary men’s teams and are now just starting to take their women seriously:
-Sweden (3): Sweden is one team that has to be one of the most underrecognized great teams. They’ve competed in every WWC since it started and finished in the Top 3 in four of the previous eight. That’s half the Women’s World Cups! They’ve also qualified for the Olympic tournaments every time since it started in 1996 and have won two silver medals. Even now the Blågult are a team that should not go overlooked.
The team is coached by Peter Gerhardsson who has coached the team since the 2017 Women’s Euro. The team is full of top-notch players like forward Sofia Jakobsson, midfielders Caroline Seger and Kosovare Asilani, and defender Linda Sembrant. Notable wins they’ve had in the last 12 months have been to China, France, Portugal and Switzerland. They’ve had draws to Germany, Spain and Norway, and they’ve has losses to Denmark and England. Chances are Sweden can prove itself to be a top contender at the Women’s World Cup and could just achieve its first-ever win. Only time will tell.
-South Africa (54): South Africa is a team that’s just starting to make waves in women’s football. France 2019 was the very first WWC for Banyana Banyana. The women have previously completed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. At the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations, South Africa finished runner-up in 2018 and won in 2022! They come to Australia/New Zealand ready to prove their abilities.
The team is coached by Desiree Ellis who has coached the team since 2016. The team consists of players who play for teams in leagues in Europe, the US, Mexico and South Africa’s own SAFA Women’s League. Notable wins in the last 12 months include Morocco and Costa Rica. They had a win and a loss to Zambia. Other losses include to Brazil, Australia and Serbia. The stage is set at this Women’s World Cup as a chance for South Africa’s women to be better than most people expect.
-Italy (16): It’s kind of funny that lately in the year after the Men’s World Cup in which Italy fails to qualify, Le Azzurre end up qualifying for the Women’s World Cup! Italy started as a top European team in women’s football when the Women’s World Cup and the Women’s Euro were just starting out. As the boom in women’s football happened in the 21st century, Italy was slow to catch on, missing tournaments or having low results. They’ve shown recent improvements lately. In France 2019, they got as far as the quarterfinals, but failed to make it past the group stage in Euro 2022.
Italy is coached by Milena Bertolini who has coached the team since the 2017 Women’s Euro. Most of the team plays for teams that are part of Italy’s Serie A Femminile. In the past 12 months, they’ve had key wins against New Zealand, South Korea and Romania. Their one draw has been to Morocco and they’ve endured losses to England, Brazil and Belgium. Australia/ New Zealand 2023 could be the place for Italy to prove to be a better team than most anticipate.
-Argentina (28): Argentina’s men are now on top of the world. This is something the women can only dream of right now. This is only the fourth Women’s World Cup La Albiceleste have ever qualified for. Argentina had a weak start in women’s football on the international stage. They were in the 2003 and 2007 Women’s World Cups and at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In all three cases, they lost all their group play games. Recently as South America has been making bigger improvements in women’s football, Argentina has improved too. They’ve finished third at the last two Copa America Femenina’s, finished runner-up at the 2019 Pan Am Games and they competed in France 2019 where they had two draws and a loss.
The team has been coached by German Portanova since 2021. The team play for teams in a mix of leagues in Spain, the US, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina’s own Campeonato Femenino. In the past 12 months, they’ve achieved wins against Peru, New Zealand and Chile. They had a win and a draw against Venezuela and a draw against Poland. They’ve also endured losses to Spain, Canada and Colombia. The Women’s World Cup is another opportunity for Argentina to improve as a team and possibly go further than expected.
My Prediction: It’s no sweat to predict Sweden as one of the qualifiers. The other three are a bit of a challenge. I’ll take a risk and say Argentina.
And there you go. That’s my look at Group G of the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Crazy how the games will be contested at times when most of us will be sleeping. I’m sure there are some night owls willing to stay up and watch!
The funny thing about draws for the World Cups or any other major football event is that it can give you a lot of surprising results. In this very group, we have the two finalists from France 2019! How did that happen? Also in this group, we have two teams making their Women’s World Cup debut. This is the only group with two debut teams. Without further ado, here is my look at Group E of Australia/New Zealand 2023:
-United States of America (1): What can’t be said about the USA or the USWNT? Since women’s football got their own Women’s World Cup in 1991 and was added to the Olympic program in 1996, the Stars and Stripes have reigned supreme winning four of the eight Cups and four of the seven Olympic gold medals. As time goes on, they keep on churning out new legends. Many people here are expecting the American women to “threepeat.” The American women have often been the case that the only women that can defeat the American women are the American women. And they have done that in the past. Such as missing out on Olympic gold in the last two Olympics. There are team that know how to win against the United States and have done so unexpectedly. Even in the four years since their last WWC, the American women have had issues such as player conflicts within the team and pay discrimination. The latter issue saw a lawsuit launched against the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) in 2019 and the GOALS Act (Give Our Athletes Level Salaries) passed by congress in 2021 which allowed the USSF settle the lawsuit with $24 million for the players.
Since October 2019, the USA has been coached by a Macedonian: Vlatko Andonovski. All players play for teams for the NWSL except for Lindsay Horan who play for a French team. The team is full of legends and current greats like Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Horan, Julie Ertz, Crystal Dunn and Kelley O’Hara. The team also has some promising young players like Emily Fox, Sophia Smith and Emily Rodman. In the last 12 months, their play has been mostly wins. Their most noteworthy wins have been against Canada, Japan and Brazil. They’ve had a win and a loss to Germany as well as losses to England and Spain. The team comes to Australia and New Zealand with the biggest of expectations and they will be ready to deliver.
-Vietnam (32): To think the Vietnam women’s team didn’t officially start until 1990 and play their first-ever match in 1997. Since then, Vietnam has made themselves into a team to be reckoned with. At the South East Asian Games, the women’s football tournament is often a Vietnam vs. Thailand affair with Vietnam having won eight times. They’ve also won the AFF Women’s Championship three times. Their play in the Women’s Asian Cup through overcoming old rivals Thailand and Chinese Taipei allowed them to win the playoff round and qualify for their first-ever Women’s World Cup.
The team’s coach is Mai Đức Chung who first managed in 2003 and has coached off and on. All the players play for teams in the Vietnamese league except for captain Huỳnh Như who plays for a Portuguese team. In the past 12 months, all their wins have been to Asian teams. They’ve endured losses to Philippines, New Zealand and Germany. Australia/New Zealand 2023 is the perfect arena for them to prove to the world they’re capable of breaking new ground.
-The Netherlands (9): The last Women’s World Cup was a pinnacle moment for Oranje Leeuwinnen as the reigning Euro holders made it to the final for the Cup and played well against the US despite losing 2-0. Since then, the Netherlands appears to have lost some of their spark. They only made it as far as the quarterfinals at the 2020 Summer Olympics and were even out in the quarterfinals at the 2022 Women’s Euro.
The team is coached by Andries Jonker who was hired after last year’s Women’s Euro. The team play for various teams in leagues throughout Europe. Top names include forward Lieke Martens and midfielders Danielle van de Donk and Sherida Spitse. In the past 12 months, their wins include Portugal. Switzerland and Denmark. They’ve also had losses to France, Norway and Germany. This Women’s World Cup is a chance to regain their reputation as one of the best in the World.
-Portugal (21): If there’s one European team that has made a lot of improvements over the years, it’s Portugal. Despite hosting a major women’s football tournament The Algarve Cup, the women’s team has often been lackluster. It wasn’t until 2017 when they first qualified for their first Women’s Euro. In the two times they’ve qualified, they’ve never made it past the Group Stage. A breakthrough happened in UEFA qualifying for the WWC. They finished second in Germany which allowed them to progress to playoff matches against Belgium and Iceland and won both matches. Even then, they had to go through the intercontinental route to qualify. Their playoff was against Cameroon and their win granted them their first-ever berth!
The Selecção das Quinas are coached by Francisco Neto who has coached the team since 2014. Most of the team plays for teams as part of Portugal’s Liga BPI. The team consists of many well-capped players such as forward Ana Borges, midfielder Dolores Silva and defender Carole Costa. In the past 12 months, the team has had notable wins against Ukraine, New Zealand and Iceland. They’ve also had draws against England and Wales and losses to Japan, Netherlands and Sweden. Chances are possible Portugal could be one of the surprise teams of this Women’s World Cup.
My Prediction: It’s hard not to choose teams other than the big favorites. However my basic sense tells me the qualifiers from this group will be United States and Netherlands.
And there you go. That’s my prediction for the Group E of the Women’s World Cup. Hard to believe there’s less than a week to go. Already the national teams have arrived. The excitement just grows!
Jon The Blogcentric 