5 Facts to Know as The FIFA Women’s World Cup Draws Near

This year ushers us into a fresh and exciting season of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

As usual, women’s national teams from different parts of the world will be competing for the Cup.

Twenty-four teams have been approved to participate in the tournament, which will be held in France from the 7^th of June till the 7^th of July 2019.

As we await the commencement of the tournament, here are some facts that will give you a grip on what the tournament will look like this year.

1. Qualified teams will be playing in six groups

There are six groups in the tournament, each of which is made of four teams.

Group A: France, South Korea, Norway and Nigeria

Group B: Germany, China, Spain and South Africa

Group C: Australia, Italy, Brazil and Jamaica

Group D: England, Scotland, Argentina and Japan

Group E: Canada, Cameroon, New Zealand and Netherlands

Group F: United States, Thailand, Chile and Sweden

The top two teams in each group and four of the third best placed teams will move on to play in the round of 16.

2. Twenty-four teams qualified to play in the tournament, including first-timers

Twenty-four teams qualified to participate in this year’s FIFA Women World Cup.

Countries like Jamaica, Chile, Scotland and South Africa will be participating in the tournament for the first time ever.

Likewise, we will be seeing the performance of countries who have qualified for every Women’s World Cup tournament held since its inception.

In this category we have countries like Brazil, Japan, Nigeria, Norway, Germany and Sweden.

Nine teams will be representing Europe, three from Africa, five from Asia, three from North America, three from south America, and one team from Australia.

This makes it a total of 24 teams.

3. Games are scheduled to be played across nine stadiums in France

France has been chosen as the official host of the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

The games will be played in 9 stadiums across France. Both semi-finals and final matches will be played at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais Stadium.

4. Video Assistant Referees will be used in the tournament (for the first time)

For the first time since the history of the Women’s World Cup, FIFA council has approved the use of Video Assistant Referees (VAR).

There will be 15 VAR referees officiating at the tournament.

This is the first time this technology is being used in a world sporting event after the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

5. A final squad of 23 players will represent each team

Each team will present a preliminary squad of 23 to 50 players. For the final squad, 23 players will be chosen.

If ever a serious injury or illness occurs before a team’s match, the player will be replaced by a player from the preliminary squad.

The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup promises to be exciting as always. With these facts in place, how do you think this year’s World Cup tournament will play out?

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