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Women’s World Cup Group D Odds & Preview: Third-Ranked Lionesses Favored to Win Group D

Ryan Metivier

by Ryan Metivier in Soccer News

Updated Apr 13, 2020 · 2:00 PM PDT

England national team huddling
The England Women's National Team are favorites to win Group D and to progress deep into the Women's World Cup. Photo By @Lionesses (Twitter).
  • The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup begins Friday, June 7, 2019
  • Group D consists of England, Japan, Scotland and Argentina
  • England are ranked third in FIFA World Rankings and are the frontrunners to finish first in Group D

With the 2019 Women’s World Cup (WWC) kicking off this Friday and concluding with the final on July 7, we preview the Women’s World Cup Group D odds for each of England, Japan, Scotland and Argentina.

The top two teams from each group, plus the four best third place teams overall will advance to the knockout round.

Women’s World Cup Group D Odds

Country FIFA Ranking Odds to Win Group D
England 3 -200
Japan 7 +170
Scotland 20 +2000
Argentina 37 +2500

Odds taken June 3, 2019.

England

The English women, known as the Lionesses, enter the 2019 Women’s World Cup with big expectations after a third place showing in 2015. England were 1-0 winners over Germany in extra-time.

Since, they reached the semifinals of the 2017 Women’s European Championships, losing 3-0 to eventual champion Netherlands.

Earlier this year, they were champions of the SheBelieves Cup among a field a teams including the USA, Japan and Brazil.

The Lionesses now rank third in the world and are considerable -200 favorites to top Group D. They’re also among the top four favorites to win the World Cup.

The majority of their squad competes within the England Women’s Super Leauge. Each of Nikita Parris, Beth Mead and Ellen White play their club soccer there and each are considered among the contenders to win the Golden Boot as top goalscorer.

England scored 29 goals and conceded just once in qualifying.

England has been strong in the lead-up to the tournament, finishing first in their qualifying group at 7-1-0. They scored 29 goals and conceded just once.

They recently defeated Japan 3-0 at the SheBelieves Cup, and had a 6-0 win over Scotland at the Women’s Euros in 2017, albeit Scotland were suffering with some injuries.

So they should be confident of progressing and likely topping Group D. If you’re looking to poke holes in their chances, you could look at some of their results against fellow World Cup competitors.

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Dating back to last year’s SheBelieves Cup, England have drawn matches against Germany, Australia and the USA. They’ve also lost against USA, as well as against Sweden, Canada and in their final warm-up match to New Zealand on Saturday.

A first place finish in Group D would see them possibly in-line for a semifinals matchup against either France or USA.

Japan

The Nadeshiko enter the WWC as one of only seven nations to participate in every tournament. They arrive with plenty of experience, having reached the finals in 2015, losing 5-2 to the United States. In 2011 they were World Cup winners when the competition was hosted in Germany and they beat the US on penalties.

The Japanese qualified for the WWC by winning the Women’s Asian Cup. They won 3-1 over China in the semifinals and 1-0 over Australia in finals.

Head coach Asako Takakura has taken the Japan U-17s to a World Cup championship and will have big shoes to fill joining in 2016 after Japan’s past World Cup accomplishments. She’s also coached the U-20s and has been named AFC Women’s Coach of the Year six times.

While much of the team plays domestically in Japan, Rumi Utsugi (Reign FC) and Saki Kumagai (Lyon) are playing in the US and England respectively.

Japan are not in the best current form, having won just one of their previous six matches. This has included a 3-1 win over Brazil, 2-2 draws to USA and Germany and 3-0 and 3-1 losses to each of England and France respectively. Sunday saw them draw 1-1 to Spain in their final warm-up match.

Scotland

One of this year’s WWC debutants, Scotland qualified by edging out Switzerland in group play during European qualification. They were 7-0-1 with 19 goals scored compared to seven allowed, though did need to come back from losing positions in four of those seven wins.

At 2017’s European Championship Scotland were also first-time participants. They finished third in group play behind England and Spain. They scored twice, while allowing eight, though suffered through several injuries including to star midfielder Kim Little.

Little won the National Women’s Soccer League’s Most Valuable Player and Golden Boot awards in 2014 while playing for the Seattle Reign. She now plays for Arsenal.

Heading into the tournament, Scotland are unbeaten in five matches with four wins. That has included wins over fellow World Cup teams Jamaica and Brazil and a draw to Chile. However, prior to that they suffered defeats to the likes of Canada, Norway and USA.

Argentina

Argentina will be making their third appearance in the WWC and first since 2007. That, along with 2003 are their only trips to the tournament and neither saw them advance out of the group stage. In fact, both times saw them lose all three matches.

Argentina failed to qualify directly through 2018’s Copa América Femenina coming in third.

So 2019 will not only end a 12-year wait to return to soccer’s greatest stage, but will also be a chance for the nation to gain their first win. Doing so won’t be easy, having been drawn alongside two of the top seven favorites to lift the trophy, as well as a much-improving Scotland side.

Argentina failed to qualify directly through 2018’s Copa América Femenina coming in third. Thus, requiring an intercontinental playoff against Panama to earn their ticket.

La Albiceleste are coached by Carlos Borrello who led the team to each of their previous World Cup appearances, as well as a Copa América win in 2006. He left the team in 2012, but returned in 2017.

Argentina have some key players playing abroad including midfielder Estefanía Banini in Spain and Sole Jaimes in Lyon.

However, bettors would be wise to avoid wagering on Argentina this tournament as expectations should be low. La Albiceleste rarely play sides outside of South America and will likely struggle against stiffer opponents. In March, they participated in the Cup of Nations and lost to each of South Korea 5-0), New Zealand (2-0) and Australia (3-0) — all fellow World Cup teams.

They will enter on a high after a 3-1 warm up match win over Uruguay.

Group D Prediction

1st: England

2nd: Japan

3rd: Scotland *to qualify as 1/4 best third place teams

4th: Argentina

Additional 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Coverage

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