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2019 Women’s World Cup: Defending Champs USA, Hosts France, Enter as Favorites to Lift Trophy

Ryan Metivier

by Ryan Metivier in Soccer News

Updated Mar 27, 2020 · 11:50 AM PDT

USWNT
The US Women's National team will be looking to win their fourth Women's World Cup when the tournament kicks off on June 7, 2019. Photo By Jamie Smed (Flickr).
  • The Women’s World Cup of soccer kicks off next week on Friday, June 7, 2019 and runs until Sunday, July 7, 2019
  • Host nation France enter the World Cup with odds of +350
  • Defending champions USA are tournament favorites at +300 odds. Can they defend the title?

On Friday, June 7, 2019, France will host South Korea in the opening match of the Women’s World Cup at 3:00 PM ET at the Parc des Princes in Paris, France.

The two sides will participate in Group A, alongside Norway and Nigeria. The French are attending their third World Cup, with a semifinals (4th) finish in 2011 and quarterfinals showing in 2015. The tournament will feature four first-time entrants in Scotland, Jamaica, South Africa and Chile.

2019 Women’s World Cup Odds

Country Women’s World Cup Odds
USA +300
France +350
Germany +500
England +600
Japan +1200
Netherlands +1200
Australia +1400
Brazil +1600
Canada +2000
Spain +2000
Norway +2500
Sweden +2500

Odds taken May 29, 2019.  

France hold the world no. 4 ranking and are considered one of the two top favorites to lift the trophy come July. In the chart above, the 12 teams below Sweden, all have odds of +5000 or higher.

Les Bleus are expected to easily progress through their group, playing no one ranked higher than the 12th Norwegians. Their roster is loaded with stars from France’s Feminine Division 1. Several stars from the league’s top teams in PSG, Lyon and Montpellier will suit up for France including Eugenie Le Sommer who has 74 goals in 159 caps.

In recent competitions, France reached the quarterfinals in each of the 2017 UEFA Women’s Championships, the 2016 Olympics and the 2015 World Cup.

As hosts, France were automatic qualifiers and thus avoided the qualification stages. They have been playing plenty of friendlies over the past year though to prepare, and have won all but one of their past 14 matches.

France reached the quarterfinals in each of the 2017 UEFA Women’s Championships, the 2016 Olympics and the 2015 World Cup.

The first of that streak actually began with a win over Germany in last year’s SheBelieves Cup. They were 1-1-1 in that competition which included a 1-1 draw against the US. Their wins in friendlies since have included victories over several World Cup participants such as: Nigeria, Canada, Australia, Cameroon, Brazil, USA, Japan, Thailand and China.

Their lone loss was a 1-0 defeat to Germany. Those above-mentioned results to USA will only build confidence as the Americans are clearly the biggest threat to France lifting the trophy on home soil. France also defeated USA 3-0 in the 2017 SheBelieves Cup.

Team USA Target Record 4th Women’s World Cup

Of the seven previous editions of the Women’s World Cup, USWNT have won the the trophy already a record three times. They’ve won in 1991, 1999 and in 2015. They will now look to become the first nation to defend the title since Germany in 2003 and 2007.

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After Canada 2015, the Americans reached the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics, losing on penalties to Sweden. However, USA have been in blistering form over the past year. The team was undefeated for the entire 2018 season.

This included a perfect 5-0-0 record through CONCACAF qualifying where they outscored their opponents 26-0 and defeated Canada 2-0 in the finals.

USWNT have lost just once, a friendly to France, at the SheBelieves Cup in January, over their past 38 matches in all competitions.

Considering USA have never finished worse than third place in a World Cup, a bet on the Americans can never be considered a bad investment. Though of their three championships, none have come on European soil.

You should also consider how the bracket looks to shake out. There’s a strong potential for three of the top four favorites to all come out on the same side (left) after the group stage.

With both USA and France massive favorites to top their groups, and England also odds-on to win Group D, all three could meet up prior to the final. In the case of USA and France, they could meet as soon as the quarterfinals if all goes to form.

The lone top four favorite who would find themselves on the opposite end of the bracket should all four finish first, is Germany.

Can Germany Win a Third Title?

The Germans are the only other nation outside of USA to win multiple Women’s World Cups.

Playing in Group B alongside Spain, China and South Africa, sees them facing no one ranked higher than the 13th Spaniards. China is not far behind at 16th, but Germany are still the clear favorites.

The winner of Group G moves over to the right-hand side of the bracket, where their top opponents would come from the winners of Groups C and E. The highest ranked side in Group C is Australia (6th), while Canada (5th) is the best-ranked side in Group E.

Past Women’s World Cup Winners

Year Winner Runner-up
2015 USA Japan
2011 Japan USA
2007 Germany Brazil
2003 Germany Sweden
1999 USA China
1995 Norway Germany
1991 USA Norway

Now this isn’t to say each of those nations aren’t worthy competition, though none rank inside the top four. And while each are veterans on the World Cup stage, the Matildas have never progressed past the quarterfinals. While the Canadians have only once made it to the semifinals in 2003. They reached the quarterfinals in 2015 on home soil, and failed to advance past the group stage four times.

In qualifying, Germany blew through their group at 7-0-1, scoring 38 times, while only conceding three.

The Germans won the 2016 Olympics over Sweden and reached the quarterfinals of the 2017 Women’s Euros losing to Denmark. In qualifying, they blew through their group at 7-0-1, scoring 38 times, while only conceding three.

Are Netherlands the Best Value?

The Netherlands are only appearing in their second World Cup but are a nation on the rise in the women’s game. They rank eighth in the world and qualified through a playoff in European qualifying.

They were 6-1-1 in qualifiers, scoring 22 and allowing two, yet finished second to Norway who were 7-0-1. Le Oranje advanced through aggregate 4-1 wins over both Denmark and Switzerland to qualify for France.

2017 proved to be a great year for women’s soccer in Netherlands. The Dutch hosted the Women’s European Championship and emerged as champions, a first for their nation. They were a perfect 3-0-0 in the group stage, prior to defeating Sweden (2-0), England (3-0) and Denmark (4-2) to lift the trophy.

I see the Netherlands making some noise in the tournament this summer. Whether they come first or second in Group E, they’ll also find themselves on the right side of the bracket, thus potentially avoiding some of the tournament’s top sides until the latter stages.

Women’s World Cup Best Bets

When considering your futures bets on the Women’s World Cup, be sure to consider that of the six groups, the top two teams will automatically advance to the round of 16. They will be joined by the four best third place finishers from the group stage.

Japan are the lone non-European nation to win a World Cup, having done so in 2011, defeating the US in penalties. Norway is the one remaining nation to win way back in 1995.

It’s hard to find a flaw with the Americans. Though with a likely quarters match against France, nothing can be certain. In fact if you’re truly bullish on Team USA, you could possibly find some greater value with either of Alex Morgan (+600), Carli Lloyd (+900) or Megan Rapinoe (+1000) to be top goalscorer. Eugenie Le Sommer has the shortest odds of any French player at +700.

I’d prefer to attack the other side of the bracket where I believe teams like Germany (+500) and Netherlands (+1200) will find themselves.

YouTube video

I also tend to agree with US star Alex Morgan (see earlier tweet), that the English could pose a threat as well. The Lionesses rank third overall in the world and won third place in 2015.

England were semifinalists at the 2017 Women’s Euros. They also won the SheBelieves Cup earlier this year in a tournament including the USA, Japan and Brazil.

Additional 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Coverage

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