It’s getting closer! We’ve been waiting four years for this, but the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup is less than a month away.
The eighth installment of women’s soccer’s international championship tournament begins June 7, 2019, in France – a rookie as a host country, with nine cities participating. Here at Total Soccer, your personal soccer training experts in Montgomery County, PA, we approach every major soccer event with great excitement, but this year’s Women’s World Cup is especially intriguing.
Before we look ahead, let’s look backward. Who could forget how the last World Cup ended back in 2015, with the U.S. Women’s National Team upsetting Germany, 2-0, in the semifinals and then rolling past Japan, 5-2, to claim its second consecutive title? Pretty much everyone in America was watching that final match; it was the highest-rated soccer match in our nation’s history, drawing more viewers than the 2015 Super Bowl.
The USWNT will go for three championship match appearances in a row at the 2019 World Cup (our ladies fell to Japan in a heartbreaking final in 2011). With this being the first year of legalized sports betting in eight states throughout the U.S., it’s safe to assume that even more eyes will be turned toward the French pitch this summer.
Checking the early odds, the U.S. is a 2-1 favorite to win again. France, the home team, is a close second at 7-2. It looks like Pennsylvania is set to make online sports betting legal, so by the time the World Cup starts, you won’t even have to head to New Jersey to put money on our ladies.
One of seven teams to have qualified for all eight World Cups so far, the USWNT will start the 24-team tournament in a group with Sweden, Thailand, and Chile, which is making its first World Cup appearance. The opening match for Alex Morgan, Julie Ertz, Megan Rapinoe, and Co. will be June 11 against Thailand in Reims, France.
A win would give the U.S. women their fourth World Cup title; the three they own is already the most of any country.
We’ll be following the action closely here at Total Soccer, so check back to our blog for more exciting updates, and if you’re raising future USWNT stars of your own, don’t forget to take a look at our schedule for summer kids soccer camps in the Yardley, PA, area.
