Women's World Cup 2015: Full Tournament Results and Final Predictions

Sunday will see the United States and Japan make history as they become the first two teams to ever contest two successive Women's World Cup finals against one another.

Norio Sasaki's side held on to secure a penalty shootout victory in Frankfurt four years ago and clinch their first-ever World Cup title as a result. The USA will be hoping for a turnaround in Vancouver this weekend.

Jill Ellis' team are also looking to mark their names in the history books on Sunday by becoming the first nation to ever win three Women's World Cup crowns.

Canada has laid on a terrific spread for the 2015 Women's World Cup, leaving us one last chance to look back on the marvels of the past four weeks along with predictions for the final.

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
June 6	Canada	1–0	China PR
June 6	New Zealand	0–1	Netherlands
June 7	Norway	4–0	Thailand
June 7	Germany	10–0	Ivory Coast
June 8	Cameroon	6–0	Ecuador
June 8	Japan	1–0	Switzerland
June 8	Sweden	3–3	Nigeria
June 8	United States	3–1	Australia
June 11	China PR	1–0	Netherlands
June 11	Canada	0–0	New Zealand
June 11	Germany	1–1	Norway
June 11	Ivory Coast	2–3	Thailand
June 12	Switzerland	10–1	Ecuador
June 12	Japan	2–1	Cameroon
June 12	Australia	2–0	Nigeria
June 12	United States	0–0	Sweden
June 15	Netherlands	1–1	Canada
June 15	China PR	2–2	New Zealand
June 15	Thailand	0–4	Germany
June 15	Ivory Coast	1–3	Norway
June 16	Ecuador	0–1	Japan
June 16	Switzerland	1–2	Cameroon
June 16	Nigeria	0–1	United States
June 16	Australia	1–1	Sweden
June 20	China PR	1-0	Cameroon
June 20	Germany	4-1	Sweden
June 21	Brazil	0-1	Australia
June 21	France	3-0	South Korea
June 21	Canada	1-0	Switzerland
June 22	Norway	1-2	England
June 22	United States	2-0	Colombia
June 23	Japan	2-1	Netherlands
June 25	Germany	1-1 (Germany win 5-4 on penalties)	France
June 25	United States	1-0	China PR
June 26	Australia	0-1	Japan
June 26	England	2-1	Canada
June 30	United States	2-0	Germany
July 1	Japan	2-1	England

Japan: Masters of the Slim Win

Despite making it to this year's final, neither Japan nor the United States are necessarily the most dazzling of sides when it comes to attack, having netted nine goals apiece en route to Sunday's curtain call.

However, it's Japan's knack for edging teams by the slimmest of margins—one goal, to be exact—that has given them such a strong spine in match management this year.

Sasaki's side boast a undefeated record at this year's World Cup, having won each of their six matches thus far by just a single goal, but also never managing to score more than twice in any fixture.

Evidently, the reigning world champions aren't looking to implement any drastic changes for the final at BC Place, with NBC's Jeff Kassouf reporting the side have abstained from training at the venue this weekend:

Perhaps Japan are hoping that keeping their distance from the stadium will invigorate them even more for the final, as they look to once again win by any means, whether it be glamorous or not.

While one might argue their squad isn't as replete with world-class stars as others in the tournament, one thing Japan possess in quantity is discipline, and that will to win through even the uglier means is a fine attribute in itself.

Stars and Stripes Defence Paves Way to Glory

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

The United States defence has not conceded a goal in more than 500 minutes of play, and it looks to be working like the well-oiled machine Ellis intended to build—one capable of capturing major honours.

And in the core of that back four sits the impregnable Becky Sauerbrunn, who Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated highlights as the potential decider in Sunday's matchup:

Australia captain Lisa De Vanna was the last woman to breach the Americans' lines with her 27th-minute strike in the opening group fixture, but Ellis' side have rallied to arms since then.

As the Fox Soccer panel pointed out, this will be a third successive major final between the United States and Japan, who also drew 0-0 in a friendly fixture just prior to this year's Women's World Cup:

However, the Stars and Stripes proved with a 2-0 semi-final win over Germany that they are capable of playing the long game, and it was there that their counter-attacking tactics paid dividends.

The United States are better-equipped to welcome Japanese pressure and dish it back, but it's their steadfast defence that will ultimately keep their opponents at bay and be the difference.