The 2019 FIFA Womens World Cup will feature 24 teams competing to become the champions of the world. According to the Womens World Cup Schedule, the tournament starts on June 7th in France and will conclude with the final match on the 7th of July. Nine cities will host all the matches - Paris, Reims, Valenciennes, Le Havre, Montpellier, Grenoble, Rennes, Nice, and Lyon, with Lyon hosting the semi-finals and finals. The France World Cup will feature six groups consisting of four teams. Each team will play three matches in the group stage, and top two teams according to Womens World Cup Standings from each group will progress to the knockout phase.

The defending champions United States, have won the most number of world cups - three. The Americans have taken part in every edition of the World Cup and have reached the semi-finals in every appearance so far. Coached by Jill Ellis, The USA are on a brilliant run and are the favourites to lift the trophy this year. They bring an explosive offense led by Alex Morgan, who scored her 100th career goal for the national team earlier this year. They are placed alongside underdogs Sweden, Chile and Thailand in Group F.

Corinne Diacre’s France should not be underestimated either. In January, France comfortably beat the defending champions 3-1. However, it is a tricky draw for the hosts as they face World number 13 Norway, World number 14 South Korea and Africa Cup Of Nations winners Nigeria in the group stage.

Two-time winners Germany have retained some of their top players for the World Cup. The number 2 side in the world will face China, Spain and African Cup Of Nations finalists South Africa in their group matches.

After a successful Euro 2017 campaign, Netherlands, with Vivianne Miedema the top scorer of the FA Women’s Super League (WSL), would be looking to provide tough competition for the rest of the title contenders. They are in Group E along with last time quarter-finalists Canada and underdogs Cameroon and New Zealand.

England is another favourites for the tournament and Phil Neville’s team will open their World Cup campaign against Scotland on the 9th of June. Neville preaches an attacking, passing game and would ideally like to turn the English team into a female version of Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. England expected to comfortably progress from their group consisting of Scotland, Argentina and 2011 winners Japan. They will rely on Jodie Taylor to continue her Euro 2017 form and guide England to the trophy.

The underdogs of the tournament are Australia and it will be intriguing to see how star player Sam Kerr performs under new coach Ante Milicic. They drew with the defending champions USA in July last year and will enter the competition with a lot of confidence. They are drawn alongside Italy, Brazil, and Jamaica in Group C and will look to improve on their quarter-final result from last World Cup.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup this year proves to be a rollercoaster ride with all teams improving both offensively and defensively and fanbase increasing for the women’s sport. It is the last FIFA tournament before the 2022 Qatar World Cup carnival arrives.

The 2022 Qatar World Cup is scheduled for the months of November and December, the first ever world cup to be conducted in winter. Given how intense the FIFA Womens World Cup already feels, it would be exciting to see how the energy unfolds for the 2022 World Cup.