The draw is this weekend. How do you think the groups will turn out? Group A: France, Norway, China, Nigeria Group B: Canada, Sweden, New Zealand, Argentina Group C: Australia, Scotland, Jamaica, Brazil Group D: Germany, Italy, Japan, Chile Group E: USA, Netherlands, South Korea, South Africa Group F: England, Spain, Thailand, Cameroon Tom Sermanni of New Zealand against Canada would be great. He knows Canada well, and could maybe get a result against them. Group A is actually the Group of Death here. There are no easy victories.
Hah...I made Group F the same as the 2000 OLY draw in which Norway ended up winning the OLY Gold Medal
Out of every simulation, this is the most "Balanced" the draw can get. It's impossible to get every single group to be equal in rating. But this is the closest to a perfect balance as you can get. Combined Team Rankings of Top 3 teams in each Group Group A: #28 (France #4, Japan #7, Italy #17, Jamaica #64) Group B: #34 (Canada #5, Sweden #9, New Zealand #20, Argentina #37) Group C: #38 (Germany #2, Brazil #8, Thailand #28, Nigeria #38) Group D: #38 (Australia #6, Norway #13, Scotland #19, Cameroon #49) Group E: #28 (USA #1, Spain #12, China #15, South Africa #50) Group F: #27 (England #3, Netherlands #10, South Korea #14, Chile #39) Now you might say, how can you have some groups as #38 and others as #28? This is where the pot #4 teams come in to play .... Nigeria and Cameroon are by far the most dangerous teams from pot #4. Notice how they get slotted in to Groups C and D (the #38 groups). Even though Argentina and Chile are both ranked higher than Cameroon in the FIFA rankings, top 3 teams of any group would rather have to face Argentina/Chile instead of Nigeria/Cameroon, from pot #4 in their group. Nigeria showed how much they improved in the last World Cup, and Cameroon made it to the knockout round. Nigeria and Cameroon are really the only pot #4 teams that have a realistic shot to advance to the Round of 16 (on paper). And the draw is officially drawn on 24 slips of paper. And even though Jamaica is #64, Chile is #39, and Argentina is #37, I consider all three of these teams to be equally dangerous from pot #4, but not as dangerous of course as Nigeria/Cameroon. Jamaica (#64), Chile (#39), and Argentina (#37), are the 3 weakest teams in this World Cup (when excluding the FIFA rankings). Thailand is the next weakest, and then South Africa is the next weakest after that. It's important for Thailand (who is by far the worst team from pot #3) to get drawn in the same group as Nigeria (the most dangerous team from pot #4), in order to optimize the balance of these groups. If Thailand gets drawn in the same group with either Chile, Argentina, Jamaica, or South Africa, then that group is automatically the Group of Fluff (the easiest group), and as a result there is no true balance. If the groups truly draw out as the scenario reveals above, then we truly have some really good match-ups .... Group A: France vs. Japan (could this be the opener?) Group A: Italy vs. Jamaica (a clash in style, which style wins & gets 3rd place?) Group B: Canada vs. Sweden Group B: Canada vs. New Zealand (Tom Sermanni vs. Canada) Group C: Germany vs. Brazil (2 world powers in both genders. 2007 rematch) Group C: Brazil vs. Nigeria (encore classic match from the 1999 Quarterfinal) Group D: Australia vs. Norway (rematch of classic 2011 WWC group match) Group D: Kim Little vs. Cameroon (who wins out here for 3rd place?) Group E: USA vs. Spain (monster matchup. How far has Spain come?) Group E: USA vs. China Group E: China vs. Spain (very entertaining match here for 2nd place) Group F: England vs. Netherlands (rematch of 2017 Euro Semifinal) Group F: Netherlands vs. Korea (Dutch struggled against Asian teams in 2015) There are 3 all-Euro matches in Group play: France vs. Italy (these two nations don't get to play each other frequently) Norway vs. Scotland (old Norway vs. new Debutants from UEFA) England vs. Netherlands (Dutch pounded England in 2017 Euro. Revenge?)
Question remain will China throw Norway out from pot no. 2... FIFA standings at 28th September #13 Norway 1907 #15 China 1876 but since then: China 0 - 0 Portugal (Yongchuan) Finland 1 - 2 China (Yongchuan) China 2 - 0 Thailand (Yongchuan) China 10 - 0 Mongolia (EAFF) Hong Kong 0 - 6 China (EAFF) Chinese Taipei 0 - 2 China (EAFF) Sweden 2 - 1 Norway Japan 4 - 1 Norway
Pots confirmed. No surprises: Pot 1: France, USA, Germany, England, Canada, Australia Pot 2: Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Brazil, Spain, Norway Pot 3: Korea Republic, China, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, Thailand Pot 4: Argentina, Chile, Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa, Jamaica CONFIRMED!The #FIFAWWC Draw Pots.A reminder: tomorrow's draw starts at 18:00 CET. pic.twitter.com/HDqhVvIFmj— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) December 7, 2018
USA, Sweden, Korea rep, Nigeria at least two of these probably three will end up in the same group. Good now I said it so we may actually not happen.
USA, Sweden, China, Nigeria This is the WORST possible draw for the USWNT, out of all simulations. Sweden is the most dangerous team from pot #2 for USA. Pia's Sweden team hasn't lost to USA yet.
I wouldn't take anyone from Pot 4 too lightly. All 6 could challenge some teams and pull some upsets.
Group A: France South Korea Norway Nigeria Group B: Germany China Spain South Africa Group C: Australia Italy Brazil Jamaica Group D: England Scotland Argentina Japan Group E: Canada Cameroon New Zealand Netherlands Group F: USA Thailand Chile Sweden
It's a tough Group A But look on the bright side... At least people won't waste any more time predicting what the draw might be. That's an interesting mix, overall... should be a great tournament.
I'd say group of death is A. France should advance quite easily, considering they also have the home crowd advantage, but 2nd place is up for grabs. In group B I see Germany and Spain advance, but it's not like the other two teams are a blank. I could be wrong, but I feel like Group D isn't "of death" at all. I hope I am not wrong, but, Little or not Little, I can't really see Scotland and Argentina posing big problems to England and Japan. I am excited for Italy: I was wishing for a chance to advance for them and I guess there it is. Not easy at all for sure, but not as impossible as if they had got, for instance, USA + Netherlands. USA get Sweden again? Well, the chance was anyway quite high. Chile was recently destroyed by USA in a double-header friendly match and Thailand aren't really there yet. Should be an eay group-stage for Ellis' team. The strongest teams from pot 2 tended to get the weakest teams from pot 1: just a case?
I think Group B is the toughest--China and Spain will make life difficult for Germany. In Group A, France will be too strong for Norway and South Korea Group C: Australia and Brazil should go through Group D: England and Japan will go through Group E: I pick The Netherlands to beat Canada and win this group, with both going through. Group F: USA to go through easily and beat Sweden, with both going through
There are always upsets in a World Cup. I am curious: where will they come from this time? Of course, in a format that has the first two teams of each group and the four best third-placed teams advance, it's hard to have "real" upsets at group-stage, if we're talking about eliminations. But some big teams could find quite difficult paths ahead of them in the knock-out stage if they stumble too much in the first three matches. It's quite easy to assess which teams should "normally" advance, everyone can do that (even by simply reading at FIFA rankings). Where do you expect an upset could happen, instead? This, would be an interesting prediction!
Germany will flop because I can already imagine Martina Voss Tecklenburg fielding players who shouldn't even be on the bench and playing players out of position
Tough draw for Norway, but with four third placed teams advancing like in the men's World Cup 1986-94, there will be less pressure in each individual game. You can repair mistakes later and still be in it. But the opening game against Nigeria will be vital as France awaits in game two.