Women's World Cup 2015: Analyzing Group Standings Before Last Round of Games
The 2015 Women's World Cup will return Monday as the final round of group-stage games will determine who advances to the round of 16.
Normally in a knockout tournament, the top two finishers of each group go through. Since 24 teams are taking part in the Women's World Cup, however, the four third-place teams with the most points will move on as well.
As a result, there aren't many teams with absolutely nothing left to play for as the last batch of fixtures arrives. With virtually no dead rubbers on the slate over the next three days, fans should be treated to some entertaining clashes.
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Group Stage Standings
| Group A | ||||||
| Canada | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| China | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Netherlands | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| New Zealand | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 1 |
| Group B | ||||||
| Germany | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 4 |
| Norway | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Thailand | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 3 |
| Cote d'Ivoire | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -11 | 0 |
| Group C | ||||||
| Japan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Switzerland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
| Cameroon | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| Ecuador | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -15 | 0 |
| Group D | ||||||
| United States | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Australia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Sweden | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Nigeria | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 1 |
| Group E | ||||||
| Brazil | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Costa Rica | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Spain | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 1 |
| South Korea | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 1 |
| Group F | ||||||
| Colombia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| England | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| France | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 3 |
| Mexico | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 1 |
Group Stage Analysis
Only two teams have actually guaranteed themselves a spot in the knockout rounds: Brazil and Japan. Brazil are a mathematical lock to win Group E, while Japan could finish anywhere from first through third in Group C and will at worst be one of the top third-place finishers.
Beyond that pair of countries, you've got a lot of quality squads such as the United States, Canada and Germany that won't finish any worse than third in their respective groups. However, simply placing third won't be enough by itself since the two third-place teams with the fewest points will be axed.
The Americans, Canadians and Germans should all go through barring a shocking result in their final games.
Nigeria's defense looks a step slow, so keeping up with the U.S. attack might be difficult. Germany get Thailand, who only beat Cote d'Ivoire 3-2, so that should be three points for the Germans. Canada have a tricky fixture with the Netherlands, but surely the hosts will wake up at some point and look like a top-10 squad in the world.
Two interesting countries to watch during the final round of group-stage fixtures will be Sweden and France, who sit fifth and third respectively in the FIFA rankings. Neither team has looked particularly strong. Sweden allowed three goals in a draw with Nigeria, while France fell to Colombia.
Yes, the referees missed a blatant handball on Colombia that would've meant a penalty for France, but the French never should've let a decision like that seriously impact the game in the first place. According to ESPN's Paul Carr, Colombia were a massive underdog:
Talent-wise, France are one of the strongest teams in the world. NBC Sports' Jeff Kassouf wonders if there's some sort of mental barrier, however, that is preventing the team from hitting its stride:
Kassouf alluded to the 2011 World Cup and 2012 Olympics. France finished fourth in both competitions despite carrying a fair bit of hype. If they fail to make it out of the group stage this year, then serious questions will be asked of the players, the coach and the power elite in the French Football Federation.
France have Mexico in their final group-stage match. Between that and the fact they already have three points, the French shouldn't have too many issues advancing.
The same can't exactly be said of Sweden.
The Swedes have just two points from their first two matches, which makes them one of the third-place teams on the outside looking in.
Sweden not only have a talented squad but are also led by an experienced coach, Pia Sundhage, who is no stranger to high expectations after her time with the United States women's national team.
Speaking after her team's 0-0 draw with the U.S., Sundhage didn't appear to feel any sort of pressure from her side failing to pick up a win through two matches. In fact, she sounded quite the opposite.
"After this 90 minutes, we gained some confidence. We were tactically smart against one of the best teams in the world," Sundhage said, per FIFA.com. "Today we saw a battle. We managed to not give up goals and we created a few chances. From here, let's see how it goes."
Sweden can't afford to take Australia lightly. The Matildas outplayed the United States for about 60 minutes before they simply wore down physically and surrendered two goals in a 3-1 defeat.
In Lisa De Vanna, Australia also have the kind of player who can single-handedly change a game. She earned player of the match against Nigeria and was her team's lone goalscorer against the U.S. Soccer writer Charles Boehm thought De Vanna was a constant threat to the American back line:
De Vanna's health is in doubt, however, heading into Australia's match with Sweden. She has been dealing with an ankle injury all tournament, which could seriously hamper her performance.
Most agreed that Group D was the proverbial "group of death" at the 2015 Women's World Cup, so it's not all that surprising that Sweden have encountered some trouble on the road to the knockout stages. If they fail to qualify altogether, though, especially with three teams advancing out of most groups, then that would one of the biggest shocks of the tournament.
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