Women's World Cup 2015: Schedule, Group Info for Canada Tournament

The 2015 Women's World Cup kicks off Saturday in Edmonton, Canada, with the hosts taking on China ahead of a month's worth of top quality football.  

A bigger event than ever before, 24 teams will compete in Canada, with eight in the competition for the first time.

USA are the favourites to triumph in the seventh edition of the tournament, but the two-time previous winners are set for a tough task, especially given their group draw.

Here are the full groups ahead of the first ball being kicked, as well as the schedule for the first stage of play.

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D	Group E	Group F
Canada	Germany	Japan	USA	Brazil	France
China	Ivory Coast	Switzerland	Australia	Korea Republic	England
New Zealand	Norway	Cameroon	Sweden	Spain	Colombia
Netherlands	Thailand	Ecuador	Nigeria	Costa Rica	Mexico

Date	Group	Team 1	Team 2
June 6	Group A	Canada	China
June 6	Group A	New Zealand	Netherlands
June 7	Group B	Germany	Ivory Coast
June 7	Group B	Norway	Thailand
June 8	Group C	Japan	Switzerland
June 8	Group C	Cameroon	England
June 8	Group D	USA	Australia
June 8	Group D	Sweden	Nigeria
June 9	Group E	Brazil	Korea Republic
June 9	Group E	Spain	Costa Rica
June 9	Group F	France	England
June 9	Group F	Colombia	Mexico
June 11	Group A	China	Netherlands
June 11	Group A	Canada	New Zealand
June 11	Group B	Germany	Norway
June 11	Group B	Ivory Coast	Thailand
June 12	Group C	Japan	Cameroon
June 12	Group C	Switzerland	Ecuador
June 12	Group D	USA	Sweden
June 12	Group D	Australia	Nigeria
June 13	Group E	Brazil	Spain
June 13	Group E	Korea Republic	Costa Rica
June 13	Group F	France	Colombia
June 13	Group F	England	Mexico
June 15	Group A	Canada	Netherlands
June 15	Group A	China	New Zealand
June 15	Group B	Germany	Thailand
June 15	Group B	Ivory Coast	Norway
June 16	Group C	Japan	Ecuador
June 16	Group C	Switzerland	Cameroon
June 16	Group D	USA	Nigeria
June 16	Group D	Australia	Sweden
June 17	Group E	Brazil	Costa Rica
June 17	Group E	Korea Republic	Spain
June 17	Group F	France	Mexico
June 17	Group F	England	Colombia

The Canadian team have not advanced out of the group stage at a World Cup since 2003, when the tournament was hosted by the USA.

However, home advantage should play a big role this time around, and they have had decent preparations, most recently downing England 1-0, per TSN:

They will be desperately looking for an opening win and to kick off the tournament in style, and though they should beat China, it will be a tough test under great pressure.

As the top-ranked side in their group, Canada should easily make it to the last 16, and the hope will be that they can go deep, but overall victory seems unlikely.

The highly rated U.S. side—currently ranked No. 2 in the world behind Germany—face a nightmare group that includes Nigeria, Australia and Sweden, arguably the toughest teams from each pot, per ESPN's Julie Foudy:

However, Jill Ellis' side are clearly confident, with defender Kelley O'Hara brushing away the challenge that faces them in the upcoming weeks, per Jeff Kassouf of The Equalizer: 

"

In terms of the Group of Death, I’m not concerned about it and I don’t think that the team is. Obviously we’re playing great opponents, but you have to play the best in the world to win the World Cup, so it’s not something that we are worried out.

"

If they perform to their enormous potential, USA are most certainly the team to beat in Canada, and they are sure to be well supported throughout.

Expectation is high for the English outfit ahead of the competition after they breezed through qualifying with 10 wins from 10, but they have never previously made it past the quarter-final stages at a World Cup.

Striker Eni Aluko will be a key component for Mark Sampson's team after she netted 13 times in qualifying, and a victory in their opening encounter against world No. 3 France would be a huge boost to their prospects.

It is sure to be a competition full of intrigue and quality, with the world's best players on show, not least Brazil's veteran striker Marta.

Defending champions Japan proved in 2011 that shocks can happen, and no team will be taking anything for granted in Canada.