Women's World Cup Schedule 2015: Live Stream and TV Times for Saturday's Bracket
Saturday sees the return of the 2015 Women's World Cup, and with the group stage complete, it's knockout football from here.
World No. 1 side Germany face a difficult challenge against Sweden in the day's early kick-off. Both teams progressed through the group stage unbeaten, with Germany sandwiching wins against Ivory Coast and Thailand around the draw with Norway. Sweden posted three draws in a far more competitive group against the United States, Nigeria and Australia.
Attention will turn to China's encounter with surprise-package Cameroon once the first match is over. Despite losing to hosts Canada in the opening match, China progressed with a win against the Netherlands and a draw against New Zealand. Cameroon managed wins against Ecuador and Switzerland, either side of losing to world champions Japan.
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Here's all the information you need ahead of Saturday's play:
| June 20 | Germany vs. Sweden | 9 p.m/4 p.m. | BBC Three (UK), Fox Sports 1 (U.S). |
| June 20 | China vs. Cameroon | 12:30 a.m. (June 21)/7:30 p.m. | BBC Red Button (UK), Fox Sports 1 (U.S). |
Live Stream: BBC iPlayer (UK only), Fox Sports Go (U.S. only).
Exciting Cameroon Have a Huge Chance to Progress
Cameroon are ranked 53rd in the FIFA Women's World Rankings, currently possessing an average ranking of 71st since the standings began, reported by FIFA.com. They played exciting attacking football to escape Group C in second place, the highest position they were ever going to achieve with Japan also among the quartet.
Although the 6-0 win over Ecuador (ranked 48th) was an impressive display of ambition, the 2-1 victory against Switzerland (ranked 19th) was an indication that Enow Ngachu's team are ready to compete with the best. The round-of-16 tie with China (ranked 16th) is the perfect opportunity for the Africans to continue their impressive form.
China have been well-organised, gutsy and determined to squeeze out results so far. Few teams would have welcomed the challenge of facing hosts Canada in the tournament's curtain-raiser, but only a 92nd-minute penalty from Christine Sinclair separated the sides.
Hao Wei's team struck a last-minute winner of their own in the following match against the Dutch but were unable to hold their lead in the 2-2 draw with New Zealand. They are prone to struggling against fast-paced, physical sides and are likely to find Cameroon a unique proposition.
Attacking midfielder Gaelle Enganamouit has been symbolic of Cameroon's progression through the tournament. She became the first African woman to score a World Cup hat-trick during the match with Ecuador and currently leads the tournament's shots chart with nine of 20 on target in three matches, per FIFA.com. You can see highlights of that match below:
Bleacher Report's Michael Cummings recently made his feelings on Enganamouit clear:
The 23-year-old is quick, powerful and immensely skillful on the ball. She drives the team forward, allowing Gabrielle Onguene and Madeleine Ngono Mani opportunities to increase their tally. Both have scored two so far, even though the latter has only played 169 minutes, per FIFA.com.
Cameroon's quality has been defined by their nothing-to-lose spirit and willingness to entertain, while the tournament's most fancied sides—such as Germany, USA and Japan—are yet to serve up anything truly special.
USA or Colombia, another of the competition's surprise packages, await the winner of Cameroon/China. Cameroon proved against Japan they can tussle with the best, rendering the defending champs to just four shots on goal, recorded by FIFA.com.
A late surge in energy saw Cameroon score and crack 20 attempts at the Japanese net. If they had played with the same level of intensity throughout the match, it's likely they would have grabbed at least a point.
There's a feeling that one of the big nations will suffer a giant-killing at this year's Women's World Cup. Cameroon, should they defy the odds and beat China, are showing all the signs of a team who can make such history.
