Women's World Cup 2015: Full Group Schedule and Latest Title Predictions
The 2015 Women's World Cup is finally starting to take shape with all 24 teams having played one match. There's still a long way to go with plenty of drama to come, but now everyone has some idea of where they stand in the big picture.
The teams that have already won are riding high, knowing they have put the pressure on everyone else in the group stage to follow their lead. Teams that were forced into a tie or lost have time to right the ship, though the second match has to bring a sense of urgency to avoid needing to throw everything into the third game.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
With every team having played, there's some evidence to start making more informed title predictions. Here's the latest schedule for group play and an updated look at the World Cup contenders.
| Thursday, June 11 | Germany vs. Norway | B | 4 p.m. | Fox Sports 1 |
| Thursday, June 11 | China PR vs. Netherlands | A | 6 p.m. | Fox Sports 2 |
| Thursday, June 11 | Ivory Coast vs. Thailand | B | 7 p.m. | Fox Sports 1 |
| Thursday, June 11 | Canada vs. New Zealand | A | 9 p.m. | Fox Sports 1 |
| Friday, June 12 | Australia vs. Nigeria | D | 5 p.m. | Fox Sports 1 |
| Friday, June 12 | Switzerland vs. Ecuador | C | 7 p.m. | Fox Sports 1 |
| Friday, June 12 | USA vs. Sweden | D | 8 p.m. | Fox |
| Friday, June 12 | Japan vs. Cameroon | C | 10 p.m. | Fox Sports 1 |
| Saturday, June 13 | France vs. Colombia | F | 1 p.m. | Fox |
| Saturday, June 13 | England vs. Mexico | F | 4 p.m | Fox |
| Saturday, June 13 | Brazil vs. Spain | E | 4 p.m. | Fox Sports 1 |
| Saturday, June 13 | Korea Republic vs. Costa Rica | E | 7 p.m. | Fox Sports 2 |
| Monday, June 15 | Thailand vs. Germany | B | 4 p.m. | Fox |
| Monday, June 15 | Ivory Coast vs. Norway | B | 4 p.m. | Fox Sports 1 |
| Monday, June 15 | Netherlands vs. Canada | A | 7:30 p.m. | Fox Sports 1 |
| Monday, June 15 | China PR vs. New Zealand | A | 7:30 p.m. | Fox Sports 2 |
| Tuesday, June 16 | Ecuador vs. Japan | C | 5 p.m | Fox Sports 1 |
| Tuesday, June 16 | Switzerland vs. Cameroon | C | 5 p.m. | Fox Sports 2 |
| Tuesday, June 16 | Nigeria vs. USA | D | 8 p.m. | Fox |
| Tuesday, June 16 | Australia vs. Sweden | D | 8 p.m. | Fox Sports 1 |
| Wednesday, June 17 | England vs. Colombia | F | 4 p.m. | Fox |
| Wednesday, June 17 | Mexico vs. France | F | 4 p.m. | Fox Sports 1 |
| Wednesday, June 17 | Costa Rica vs. Brazil | E | 7 p.m. | Fox Sports 1 |
| Wednesday, June 17 | Korea Republic vs. Spain | E | 7 p.m. | Fox Sports 2 |
Favorite: Germany
Germany holds the top spot in the FIFA world rankings with the United States ranked second overall, and both took care of business in their opening matches against Ivory Coast and Australia, respectively.
The Germans had the most dominant showing of the early games, destroying Ivory Coast with the second-biggest margin of victory in Women's World Cup history, per ESPN Stats & Info:
Team USA's 3-1 win over Australia is more impressive than Germany's victory in the abstract because the Australians are ranked 10th in the world, compared to Ivory Coast at No. 67.
However, per Alison McCann of FiveThirtyEight.com, Germany moved ahead of the United States in percentage chance to win the tournament:
"Germany, the other front-runner, however, opened its World Cup run with a resounding 10-0 win over the Ivory Coast (a team that had a Women’s Soccer Power Index rating of 75.5 — compared to Australia’s 88.8). But as probabilistic forecasts go, a victory that big increased Germany’s chances of winning the tournament. It is now at 31 percent, ahead of the Americans’ 28 percent.
"
McCann did note that it wouldn't be fair to read much into that at this point, as Germany needs to play a tougher opponent to properly evaluate what the team is really going to look like in the tournament. She says that will happen on Thursday against Norway, which has a Women's Soccer Power Index of 88.9.
Even with those caveats, there's no doubt Germany looks like the most impressive team in the tournament. It had two players, Celia Sasic and Anja Mittag, score hat tricks.
Sasic's onslaught was nothing new, as Ben Gladwell of ESPNW.com noted she's been a goal-scoring machine for Germany:
"Celia Sasic became a household name in only the past two years, but she was famous long before, known by her maiden name of Celia Okoyino da Mbabi until her marriage after UEFA Euro 2013. The 57 goals she had scored in 104 appearances for her country coming into the tournament were about to be given a boost.
"
Norway and Thailand will be more formidable opponents for Germany, as both are ranked in the top 30, but with a goal margin of plus-10 already, it will be a miracle if Germany doesn't get through. The rest of the world is looking up at the Germans right now, and they deserve their spot as the favorite.
The Rising Titan: United States
There are two ways to look at the United States' 3-1 victory over a talented Australia team. One way is cynical, pointing out how sloppy the Americans started on offense, allowing the Australians in hang around in the game until early in the second half.
The other, more optimistic perspective is Team USA won a game at less than their best against one of the top teams in the world.
Making things even better for America was Megan Rapinoe's dominance in the victory, scoring the first and third goals and hitting Sydney Leroux down the left flank on a gorgeous pass that set up Christen Press' go-ahead goal in the second half.
Roger Bennett of NBC Sports summed up Team USA's effort perfectly on Twitter:
Sometimes, it is good to be sloppy in victory. Rapinoe acknowledged some of the faults in Team USA's win after it was over, per Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated:
"I think we can be a lot better in possession and just a lot more confident on the ball. I think we’re better than what we played today and got caught kind of going long when we need to settle it down. The times when we did settle it down and had good spells of possession, you could see how we could knock it around and be dangerous. But we need to do a lot more of that.
"
It also helps that Hope Solo played so well against Australia's offense, stopping a Samantha Kerr shot when she was alone in the box.
The United States won't be putting the Australia game on any highlight packages, but it was able to get a crucial win in the Group of Death and has nowhere to go but up with two matches left against Sweden and Nigeria.
Don't Sleep On Us: Japan
Sports fans want to root for something that is appealing. There's a reason fans across the United States, outside of Texas, have never embraced the San Antonio Spurs despite winning five NBA titles since 1999. No one cares about playing fundamental, team-oriented basketball. We want to see someone drop 40 points.
In the Women's World Cup, Germany and the United States stand above everyone else. Yet there are plenty of quality teams capable of winning a title. A group such as the Japanese, who happen to be the defending champions, should be getting more credit, being ranked fourth in the world and starting the World Cup with a victory over Switzerland.
Yet there was nothing that stands out in Japan's 1-0 win in the opening game. It was merely a good performance by a very good team. It only held possession 45 percent of the time, according to FIFA.com, but got a stellar defensive showing and outstanding play in goal from Erina Yamane.
Japan coach Norio Sasaki told FIFA.com after the victory his team has a lot to learn if it wants to win a second consecutive World Cup:
"We expected to be put under immense pressure at the start of the match. Although we have the team and style needed for controlled play, we struggled to implement our game plan. We can keep the ball well, and I told my players that they should let it run for as long as possible, but their play was too direct. That’s something I still want to correct.
"
Yet in the same way Team USA was able to get a quality win while playing at less than its best, Japan did that against Switzerland. But the FiveThirtyEight.com projection from McCann and Jay Boice gives the Japanese team a nine percent chance to win a championship.
Granted, those are the third-best chances of any team in the tournament but Germany (31 percent) and America (29 percent) are so far ahead everyone else that it seems like even a team as good as Japan winning would be considered an upset.
It wouldn't be, just as Japan proved four years ago and is off to an excellent start in 2015.
World rankings via FIFA.com.
