Dare to Shine - Le moment de briller
May 9, 2019 11:48 AM Subscribe
The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup is starting in less than a month. 24 national women's teams will face off in 9 cities around France over 30 days. The video assistant referee (VAR) system will be in use for the first time at the FWWC, as it was for the brother event in Russia last year. Host country France will open the tournament against Korea in Paris on June 7th at 21:00 CEST (3 pm EST) and the final matchup will kick off in Lyon on July 7 at 17:00 CEST (11 am EST). Here's what to watch for.
Reigning champions USA have taken the title 3 times out of the 7 previous women's tournaments. (Hat tip to Tentacle of Trust for a preview of the state of the US Women's National Team.) Host country France is also a top contender for this year's title, with a team composed of experienced players and younger players who have helped Les Bleues snag titles in the U-17, U-19 and U-20 leagues over the last seven years.
Other returning teams include two-time winners Germany (ranked second) and one-time winners Japan and Norway. Brazil's team is led by captain Marta, the tournament's all-time leading scorer with 15 goals who will be appearing in her fifth tournament. Likewise, Canada's Christine Sinclair will also have her fifth World Cup appearance, and is the next most prolific scorer still playing, with 9 goals scored in a World Cup. Cameroon's Indomitable Lionesses sailed to a repeat appearance and boast one of Africa's top players, Gabrielle Onguene. However Australia's Matildas also have Sam Kerr, who was shortlisted for Best FIFA Women's Player of the Year in 2018. England, also nicknamed the Lionesses, will make their fourth showing at a FWWC with a third-place ranking, and Argentina's La Albiceleste, Thailand's Chaba Kaew and New Zealand's Football Ferns hope to make it past the group stage for the first time. Netherlands' Oranje Leeuwinnen (really, what's with all the lions?), China's Steel Roses, Spain, Korea's Taegeuk Nangja, and Italy's Le Azzurre, all will have repeat appearances. Along with Brazil, Germany, Japan, Norway, the US and Sweden, Nigeria's Super Falcons are the other team which have qualified for every FWWC tournament, but they have never made it past the quarter finals. This year, though, Nigeria has Asisat Oshoala, voted Africa's Woman Footballer of the Year in 2017.
First appearances are heavy with emotion for Jamaica's Reggae Girlz, Chile's Las Chicas de Rojo, Scotland and South Africa's Banyana Banyana.
Some teams are still feeling the sting of inequal pay and benefits compared to the men's teams. Norway will play without its top scorer and Ballon D'Or winner Ada Hegerberg, who contends that the country's national league hasn't done enough to equalize the treatment of women's soccer, even though the league signed an agreement in 2017 with the players' association to guarantee equal pay for men and women. After a 2016 lawsuit, the USA won a new collective bargaining agreement, and Canadian players sought to get maternity coverage into their contracts. 2017 saw Nigeria's players holding a sit-in over unpaid salaries, Ireland's team threatening to strike and Australia's team carrying forward with a strike. The prize for this year's winners has doubled from the previous tournament, to $30 million, with each winning player taking home $4 million, although the amounts are still dwarfed by the men's French team taking home $400 million and $38 million individually.
However, the investment in women's teams has paid off for Italy and Scotland, both of whose women's national teams qualified for the 2019 FWWC while the men's teams did not get a ticket to Russia in 2018.
Get your Panini album here (US and Canada link) and collect all the player, stadium and team stickers!
Reigning champions USA have taken the title 3 times out of the 7 previous women's tournaments. (Hat tip to Tentacle of Trust for a preview of the state of the US Women's National Team.) Host country France is also a top contender for this year's title, with a team composed of experienced players and younger players who have helped Les Bleues snag titles in the U-17, U-19 and U-20 leagues over the last seven years.
Other returning teams include two-time winners Germany (ranked second) and one-time winners Japan and Norway. Brazil's team is led by captain Marta, the tournament's all-time leading scorer with 15 goals who will be appearing in her fifth tournament. Likewise, Canada's Christine Sinclair will also have her fifth World Cup appearance, and is the next most prolific scorer still playing, with 9 goals scored in a World Cup. Cameroon's Indomitable Lionesses sailed to a repeat appearance and boast one of Africa's top players, Gabrielle Onguene. However Australia's Matildas also have Sam Kerr, who was shortlisted for Best FIFA Women's Player of the Year in 2018. England, also nicknamed the Lionesses, will make their fourth showing at a FWWC with a third-place ranking, and Argentina's La Albiceleste, Thailand's Chaba Kaew and New Zealand's Football Ferns hope to make it past the group stage for the first time. Netherlands' Oranje Leeuwinnen (really, what's with all the lions?), China's Steel Roses, Spain, Korea's Taegeuk Nangja, and Italy's Le Azzurre, all will have repeat appearances. Along with Brazil, Germany, Japan, Norway, the US and Sweden, Nigeria's Super Falcons are the other team which have qualified for every FWWC tournament, but they have never made it past the quarter finals. This year, though, Nigeria has Asisat Oshoala, voted Africa's Woman Footballer of the Year in 2017.
First appearances are heavy with emotion for Jamaica's Reggae Girlz, Chile's Las Chicas de Rojo, Scotland and South Africa's Banyana Banyana.
Some teams are still feeling the sting of inequal pay and benefits compared to the men's teams. Norway will play without its top scorer and Ballon D'Or winner Ada Hegerberg, who contends that the country's national league hasn't done enough to equalize the treatment of women's soccer, even though the league signed an agreement in 2017 with the players' association to guarantee equal pay for men and women. After a 2016 lawsuit, the USA won a new collective bargaining agreement, and Canadian players sought to get maternity coverage into their contracts. 2017 saw Nigeria's players holding a sit-in over unpaid salaries, Ireland's team threatening to strike and Australia's team carrying forward with a strike. The prize for this year's winners has doubled from the previous tournament, to $30 million, with each winning player taking home $4 million, although the amounts are still dwarfed by the men's French team taking home $400 million and $38 million individually.
However, the investment in women's teams has paid off for Italy and Scotland, both of whose women's national teams qualified for the 2019 FWWC while the men's teams did not get a ticket to Russia in 2018.
Get your Panini album here (US and Canada link) and collect all the player, stadium and team stickers!
I’m super-excited for this, and this year I have enough football-fan friends to make it fun to discuss the games. Looking forward to the FanFare threads, too.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:20 PM on May 9, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:20 PM on May 9, 2019 [2 favorites]
Yay! A few years ago I saw the US women play Thailand and it was such fun. I don't support the US men's team, but I am very happy to support the US women (though I'd love to see Cameroon and Nigeria do well)!
posted by ChuraChura at 12:23 PM on May 9, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by ChuraChura at 12:23 PM on May 9, 2019 [2 favorites]
Thanks for posting this, Liesl! FIFA is doing a bracket challenge if making wild guesses and busting is how you like to enjoy a sports tournament.
posted by the primroses were over at 12:24 PM on May 9, 2019
posted by the primroses were over at 12:24 PM on May 9, 2019
I'm from Scotland, so any World Cup we qualify for brings only dread.
As regards the stickers, there was always one smug wee bastard whose uncle owned a newsagent and got wholesale prices.
posted by scruss at 12:28 PM on May 9, 2019 [3 favorites]
As regards the stickers, there was always one smug wee bastard whose uncle owned a newsagent and got wholesale prices.
posted by scruss at 12:28 PM on May 9, 2019 [3 favorites]
No-one has ever confused a beam of sunshine with a Scot scruss (speaking as one myself). I concur with both your statements.
posted by Gratishades at 12:53 PM on May 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Gratishades at 12:53 PM on May 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm really excited about the World Cup. One of my all time favorite games ever was the 2011 final between Japan and the US. The latter started really well and got to 1-0 looking like they'd cruise through the game. But suddenly Japan found another gear and evened the score. Then the US put on the afterburners and retook the lead, looking like they'd just blow Japan away, but then Japan upped their game again and equalized. Both teams then played at their absolute best until the end, when Japan won on penalties. It's probably the best international final of this century, with the possible exception of last year's World Cup final (which was certainly crazier, if less tense).
posted by Kattullus at 1:00 PM on May 9, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Kattullus at 1:00 PM on May 9, 2019 [5 favorites]
Scotland is my second team. Somewhere in the past few years, I lost my cheap t-shirt with LITTLE 8 printed on the back. Gonna have to find that.
Keep an eye out for the minnows in the group stage - they're often having to fight their battles with amateur players who work multiple jobs and completely unfunded coaching/support staffs. When a team like that breaks through, it's god damned magic. I will never forget Karla Villalobos's goal vs. South Korea in 2015 - the linked video doesn't show the entire celebration, as Villalobos goes from crying in a mob of her teammates to, in literally a split second, grabbing a nearby TV camera and screaming her head off.
posted by suckerpunch at 1:02 PM on May 9, 2019
Keep an eye out for the minnows in the group stage - they're often having to fight their battles with amateur players who work multiple jobs and completely unfunded coaching/support staffs. When a team like that breaks through, it's god damned magic. I will never forget Karla Villalobos's goal vs. South Korea in 2015 - the linked video doesn't show the entire celebration, as Villalobos goes from crying in a mob of her teammates to, in literally a split second, grabbing a nearby TV camera and screaming her head off.
posted by suckerpunch at 1:02 PM on May 9, 2019
FWIW, I had to hunt down who would be covering it in the US (Fox, I feel like I should have known that). Here's a schedule for their coverage.
posted by gc at 1:24 PM on May 9, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by gc at 1:24 PM on May 9, 2019 [3 favorites]
Worth mentioning that you can still get tickets for many of the games, from as low as €9.
posted by biffa at 1:54 PM on May 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by biffa at 1:54 PM on May 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
Love to see the USA soccer logo on the jerseys with the three stars. Won’t ever see that on the men’s jerseys.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 1:59 PM on May 9, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 1:59 PM on May 9, 2019 [2 favorites]
We are so on for this, me and the soccer-playing Randomlet. No cable, so it's Telemundo for us. Goooooooooooal!
posted by Quasirandom at 2:44 PM on May 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Quasirandom at 2:44 PM on May 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
So excited!
Question: if one were looking for USWNT merchandise/clothing for babies, where would one find it? I'm sort of looking for official sources here, because I want to reinforce to the powers that be that yes, there is a market for this stuff.
posted by damayanti at 2:53 PM on May 9, 2019
Question: if one were looking for USWNT merchandise/clothing for babies, where would one find it? I'm sort of looking for official sources here, because I want to reinforce to the powers that be that yes, there is a market for this stuff.
posted by damayanti at 2:53 PM on May 9, 2019
damayanti: looks like TeamUSAShop has you(r kid) covered. They even have onesies.
posted by Quasirandom at 2:56 PM on May 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Quasirandom at 2:56 PM on May 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yay! I'm excited, and this is a great post!
posted by mixedmetaphors at 2:57 PM on May 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by mixedmetaphors at 2:57 PM on May 9, 2019 [1 favorite]
Definitely looking forward to this. But to be clear the winning team will split $4 million, not get that amount per player.
posted by billsaysthis at 4:09 PM on May 9, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by billsaysthis at 4:09 PM on May 9, 2019 [2 favorites]
Huh, totally misread the article about the prize money. $30 million is the total of all the prizes delivered throughout the tournament, with $4 million reserved for the winning team.
posted by Liesl at 4:22 PM on May 9, 2019
posted by Liesl at 4:22 PM on May 9, 2019
Thank you for the post! I'm a proud season ticket holder for the Reign and I'm very much looking forward to this.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:18 PM on May 9, 2019
posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:18 PM on May 9, 2019
I'm a proud season ticket holder for the Reign and I'm very much looking forward to this.
Off topic, but : how's the move to Tacoma working out for you and other, ehm, Seattleites?
posted by suckerpunch at 7:24 AM on May 10, 2019
Off topic, but : how's the move to Tacoma working out for you and other, ehm, Seattleites?
posted by suckerpunch at 7:24 AM on May 10, 2019
Came here to make sure Sam Kerr was mentioned, leaving happy.
posted by GamblingBlues at 9:13 AM on May 10, 2019
posted by GamblingBlues at 9:13 AM on May 10, 2019
Excellent post. Spouse and I are going to see the women play South Africa this weekend in Santa Clara. So excited!
posted by codewheeney at 1:41 PM on May 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by codewheeney at 1:41 PM on May 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
Off topic, but : how's the move to Tacoma working out for you and other, ehm, Seattleites?
We've only had one "home" game so far. The upgrade in facilities is a huge deal--up until this year the Reign played at Memorial Stadium, which is owned by the Seattle public school district and run down af. Like the high schools should have someplace better, too, but it's what they've got for football games and big graduations. It's terrible. The new digs in Tacoma are way better. It's weird being in assigned, narrow seats now after the open benches of Memorial, but everything else about it is better--concessions, bathrooms, parking, you name it. Cheney stadium isn't huge but it feels like a professional up-to-date venue.
I believe the front office for the Reign organized a charter bus from Seattle for fans, at least for this year. That feels like a big deal given that not everyone has easy transportation to Tacoma. Pretty sure I heard we had record attendance for opening night, too.
It fucking sucks that there isn't better support for women's sports in Seattle. The Rat City Rollergirls are looking at losing their rollerderby venue, too, because the owner wants to sell. I don't know if any solution has been found yet. But as for the Reign, the situation itself is lame, but this was definitely the best solution and it has some significant upsides. (And for myself, I'm not super territorial; I'm happy if the team is "for" other cities, too!)
posted by scaryblackdeath at 1:45 PM on May 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
We've only had one "home" game so far. The upgrade in facilities is a huge deal--up until this year the Reign played at Memorial Stadium, which is owned by the Seattle public school district and run down af. Like the high schools should have someplace better, too, but it's what they've got for football games and big graduations. It's terrible. The new digs in Tacoma are way better. It's weird being in assigned, narrow seats now after the open benches of Memorial, but everything else about it is better--concessions, bathrooms, parking, you name it. Cheney stadium isn't huge but it feels like a professional up-to-date venue.
I believe the front office for the Reign organized a charter bus from Seattle for fans, at least for this year. That feels like a big deal given that not everyone has easy transportation to Tacoma. Pretty sure I heard we had record attendance for opening night, too.
It fucking sucks that there isn't better support for women's sports in Seattle. The Rat City Rollergirls are looking at losing their rollerderby venue, too, because the owner wants to sell. I don't know if any solution has been found yet. But as for the Reign, the situation itself is lame, but this was definitely the best solution and it has some significant upsides. (And for myself, I'm not super territorial; I'm happy if the team is "for" other cities, too!)
posted by scaryblackdeath at 1:45 PM on May 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
are we gonna liveblog it on fanfare again. pls yes.
posted by poffin boffin at 12:33 PM on May 12, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 12:33 PM on May 12, 2019 [6 favorites]
I made a planning post for 2019 WWC threads
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:19 AM on May 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:19 AM on May 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
Get ready, world: Here comes the marvelous Mal Pugh
posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:43 AM on May 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:43 AM on May 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
so I looked up the highlights from the international friendly between USA and Australia for Pugh's performance and she scored two seemingly effortless goals by just .... being in the right place.
Which sounds kinda weird, but its absolutely a real skill - to read the field, the defenders, the flow of play, and get to where you're going to need to be, such the the goal is simply a natural progression of a decision she made fifteen seconds earlier.
I'm getting excited for the WWC!
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:17 AM on May 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Which sounds kinda weird, but its absolutely a real skill - to read the field, the defenders, the flow of play, and get to where you're going to need to be, such the the goal is simply a natural progression of a decision she made fifteen seconds earlier.
I'm getting excited for the WWC!
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:17 AM on May 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:19 PM on May 9, 2019