Women's World Cup Draw 2019 Results: Groups, Bracket and Schedule Revealed
December 8, 2018
Tournament hosts France will open the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup against South Korea on June 7 after the group-stage bracket for next summer's competition was announced at La Seine Musicale, Paris, on Saturday.
They'll be paired up with Norway and Nigera as well to form Group A, where Les Bleues can have high hopes of advancing as winners.
Titleholders the United States will meet Sweden in the group stage for the sixth consecutive World Cup, meanwhile, and find themselves opposite Chile and Thailand in Group F.
England, meanwhile, will meet 2015 runners-up Japan in Group D, as well as home nation rivals Scotland and Argentina.
New Zealand recently became the 24th and final country to qualify for the tournament, when they beat Fiji 8-0 to lift the 2018 OFC Women's Nations Cup, and are looking to progress past the group stage for the first time.
FIFA provided a breakdown of the six groups in full:
France will host the World Cup for the first time in its eighth edition; this will also be the third time a European nation has hosted after Sweden in 1995 and Germany in 2011.
Les Bleues will be eager to beat their previous-best run to fourth in the 2011 tournament and are in good form under coach Corinne Diacre, having won their last seven matches in succession. Their men's team became world champions in 2018, and they'll hope to follow suit by winning the final on July 7.
France
France couldn't have hoped for much better in terms of their group opposition, and the winner of Group A will face the third-place finisher from one of Groups C, D or E in the round of 16.
Diacre has gained a lot of praise since she took over as France head coach in 2017, and football writer Jeremy Smith recently praised her display of tactical versatility following a friendly win over Cameroon:
France have more recently beaten Brazil and also count world No. 2 Germany, fifth-ranked Canada and No. 6 Australia among their streak of seven wins, during which they've scored 27 times and conceded just once.
It's fair to say they look as though they could give just about anyone a run for their money at present, and it looks like Group A opponents South Korea, Norway and Nigeria will all be fighting for second in their pool.
United States
The United States will enter a Women's World Cup as titleholders for a third time next summer, and Group F opponents Sweden, Thailand and Chile will each be disappointed to encounter the heavyweights so early.
Coach Jill Ellis' side hammered Japan 5-2 in the final of the 2015 Women's World Cup in Vancouver, British Columbia, when Carli Lloyd scored a 13-minute hat-trick to bring her nation their third world crown, via ABC News:
There's no doubt Sweden will be their biggest test in the pool. Like the Stars and Stripes, they're taking part in their eighth Women's World Cup, while China will travel to their second and Chile prepare to make their finals debut.
Other forces are emerging, with Germany and England in particular picking up form in 2018, but the Stars and Stripes are undefeated in 28 games and will fancy their chances regardless of group opposition.