The Women’s World Cup 2019, which will feature 24 teams from 6 confederations will end with only one team on top. With established teams who have been a dominant force for years and others who enter the tournament with new, promising talents, the Women’s World Cup 2019 promises to be an exciting one. Below you can read our Women’s World Cup 2019 betting preview.
Looking at the participating teams, we can’t help but wonder which one will end up on top. Bookmakers seem to agree France and USA are the favorites to go all the way, while the remaining 22 teams are not given a lot of chances to do so. Nonetheless, let’s take a look at the favorites and our pick on which team we will bet in the upcoming tournament.
The USA enter the Women’s World Cup 2019 as four times Olympic gold medallists and three times World Champions, which clearly makes them the favorites to go all the way and add another cup to their trophy cabinet. With odds of around 4.50, the US team is considered to be one of the favorites to win it all, and for a good reason. They have some exceptional individual talent which won them titles before and is expected to do so in the future. Still, there are some doubts about their chances to win it all. The team looks different from the one we saw in the 2015 World Cup with a couple of new faces in the squad. Additionally, the team lost their star goalkeeper Hope Solo, which is something that has reduced the overall quality of the team. They are still a strong team and will most likely go far, however with odds of 4.50, betting on them simply does not offer any value, especially with some questionable performances from their new goalkeeper.
The home side, France are currently offered odds of around 4.50 to win it all and keep the trophy home. Playing in a home country without a doubt gives France a slight edge over their opponents, but we need to ask ourselves if that is enough for them to win it all. A team that is filled with football stars will enter the tournament without the Ligue 1 top scorer Marie-Antoinette Kakoto, due to internal issues, which should not affect the overall quality of the team too much. While we are not too concerned about the missing forward, France does have a tendency to underperform on the grand stage. They are known to underdeliver in international tournaments which was the case in with an early quarter-final exit in their last 3 tournaments. In 2013, they lost to Denmark, in 2015 to Germany and against England in 2017 Euro. With that in mind, there are serious doubts about France and their chances to win. The quality is surely there, but as we can see from their results, the problem lies somewhere else.
Looking over two of the favorites to win, neither convinced us to put our money on them. Taking everything into consideration, the odds of 4.50 on US and 4.5 on France are simply not attractive enough for us to take. With that in mind, we must take a look at one of the teams that is considered to be an underdog, however, we believe they have enough quality to go all the way.
Coming from a country of the rising sun, Japanese team enter the World Cup as the 2015 finalists, who lost to the USA in a disappointing fashion.
Still, the 2011 champions and 2015 finalists are back with one goal in mind, which is to win it all for the 2nd time in their history. A team filled with young and experienced stars; Japan are one of the elite forces of women’s football who is more than capable of defeating any team that crosses their path.
While we cannot deny the fact that Japan did not perform up to par against England, France and Germany this year, Japan, unlike France performs much better in a tournament environment. Being known as a team that shifts into a higher gear once they enter tournaments, Japan should not be underestimated. While there are some doubts about Japan and their young players winning the trophy, we believe Japan has an excellent chance to go all the way this year. With their proficiency in tournaments, Japan could easily reach the finals, from where there is only one more step to glory.
Prediction: Japan to win outright
Odds: 15.00 Bet365 (check the sites like oddschecker.com for better odds, they were around 19.00 on Pinnacle, but brought down to around 13.00)
Stake: 0.50 Units
2019 Women’s World Cup – Group A Preview
Group A of the 2019 Women’s World Cup will consist of France, South Korea, Norway and Nigeria. The matches for the group will take place from June 7th to June 17th.
Featuring the host team, France, 1995 World Cup champions Norway, South Korea and Nigeria, the group A looks like it’s split right down the middle, with France and Norway fighting for the top spot, while South Korea and Nigeria can hope for an upset win which would get them in a better spot of finishing among the 4 best performing 3rd placed teams of the tournament.
The favorites to win the group stages are no other than the French team, who will enter the tournament with a lot of eyes pointed towards them in expectation for the title. Not only will France host the World Cup, the excellent performance from their male counterparts, who won the 2018 World Cup only adds the pressure on the female team. Ranked number 4 by FIFA, France, who will be lead by their star player Lyons Amandine Henry, will be expected to perform up to par and keep the trophy in France. While there is no doubt the team has the quality to go all the way, there is one thing that has kept France from doing so in the past. The French team has a tendency to underperform in tournaments and with all the pressure on them, we can’t help but wonder if the team will be able to handle it and perform to their full potential.
Still, we can safely assume the team should at least get out of groups and continue into the knockout stages, especially being that they have got South Korea and Nigeria in their group. The 38th and 14th FIFA rank teams simply do not fall into category of teams we can expect to see competing for the glory, and while they have some exceptional players, namely Nigeria who boast with arguably the best player of the tournament (Asisat Oshoala), one player alone won’t have enough of an impact in the wider picture. Talking about exceptional players, we have to touch Norway, who have Maren Mjelde in their ranks. Widely considered to be one of the best players in the world, Maren Mjelde is known to have the ability to play at either central defense or in midfield. As a player who was a part of the team for over a decade, Maren Mjelde proved to be the soul of the team, which keeps all the eleven parts working as intended.
There is no doubt in my mind that the top spot will be fought for by France and Norway. While I could imagine Nigeria and South Korea playing well and putting up good fights against the two favorites, the quality of the teams is just too far apart to legitimately hope for an upset of an underdog.
With two favorites, there can only be one winner and one team which will end the group stages at the top. The odds suggest France are heavy favorites to end the group stage at the top and while the home ground advantage surely will help them, I am not too convinced they will have such an easy time against Norway. The champions of 2019 Algarve Cup look strong heading into the World Cup and while there is something to be said about the departure of their star and Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg, Norway should stay competitive with France.
With odds of 6.50 offered on Norway to finish the group at the top, the odds are just too good to pass on, especially considering that their only competition are France, who have had their fair share of questionable performances on the international stage.
Prediction: Norway to win the group stage
Odds: 6.50 Bet365
Stake: 1 Unit
2019 Women’s World Cup – Group B Preview
Group B of the 2019 Women’s World Cup will consist of Germany, China, Spain and South Africa. The matches for the group will take place from June 8th – June 17th.
Group B is a group filled with talent, newcomers, teams bursting with potential and teams that still have a lot to prove. Talking about having a lot to prove, we will start off with Germany, who have qualified for every finals competition up until now and are expected to go a long way in the World Cup, which is normal for Germany. Being a country that was among the best in the football world for as long as we can remember, the expectations for them is always to be the best and win. Those expectations grew even further this year, as the female team has a tough job on their hands. They need to return faith back into German football after a disastrous performance of the male German team in 2018 World Cup. Sadly for them, the competition gets stronger and stronger with each passing year, so the question is; which teams will be able to keep up with more and more quality coming into female football?
Nonetheless, the German female team will enter the group stages with high hopes after an incredible run in the qualifiers, where they won 7 games in a row without conceding a single goal. Will they be able to keep up the form into the World Cup is yet to be seen, however, with strong teams waiting to face them in the group B, we can at least expect Germany to have a slightly harder time than in qualifiers. The first team Germany will have to overcome will be China, who will be their opponents on June 8th. Chinese football team comes off as a team that has a lot of potential that is unused. With plenty of players to choose from, it does seem surprising they are only ranked 16th in the world. Despite that, their performances are far from impressive, which is why I do not expect a lot from them.
That leaves us with Spain and South Africa, who are legitimate contenders for the 2nd spot in the group B. Spain, who we all know come into the World Cup with their defender Irene Parades as their top goal scorer (4 goals), which is interesting, to say the least. While they are ranked far higher than South Africa, I do not believe the teams are so far apart quality-wise. We will get a chance to see them in action on June 8th, when the two sides will meet for the first time ever. Not only will this match be interesting to watch due to the fact it will be the first ever encounter between them, but also because it just might prove to be the match, which will ultimately decide which team will end 2nd and which will have to settle with the 3rd place once the group stages end.
South Africa will appear in the World Cup for the first time in history, which they well deserved. With phenomenal performances in the qualifiers, South African team proved to the world, they belong in the World’s elite. With a lot of potential and experience in the team, South Africa will fancy their chances to push Spain all the way and take the 2nd place finish from them. Considering the odds offered on South Africa to get themselves out of the group stage, we believe there is value betting on the newcomers to appear in the final 16.
Prediction: South Africa to advance from the group stage
Odds: No odds. There probably won’t be any markets for this kind of prediction.
2019 Women’s World Cup – Group C Preview
Group C of the 2019 Women’s World Cup will consist of Australia, Brazil, Italy, and Jamaica. The matches for the group will take place from June 8th – June 18th.
Coming into the 2019 World Cup, Brazil boasts with one of the most well-known and arguably the best player in the history of the sport. Marta Vieira da Silva, more commonly known as simply “Marta” or “Pele in a skirt” is one of the most recognizable players in the female football world. With a rich and long career, she has proven times and times again, she is one of the best, however, out of all the titles and achievements to her name, the World Cup always seems to slip away from her hands. Marta came close to winning it in 2007, but it was Germany who crushed her dreams when they defeated Brazil 2:0. Now with 33 years of age, the upcoming world cup will be most likely her last chance to lift the Winner’s trophy and while she would arguably deserve it, the chances of that happening are in my opinion quite low. Brazil, who is known to produce some of the best football players in the world and are because of that one of the most respected football nations, do not look too hot. While they managed to qualify for every single final of the tournament and convincingly got out of the qualifiers, they do not have the quality to fight for the glory. That might sound a bit off being that they have the best female football player that ever lived on their team, but a team needs 11 good players to reach for the stars, not just 1.
Talking about nations who produced incredible football players, we cannot forget about Italy, who much like Germany have a hard task ahead of them. Fix the mistakes their male counterparts have made and return some faith to football fans. The year 2018 was the year when Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in history, which might sound surprising, but we must consider the fact they are currently going through a rebuilding process. However, it’s the female Italian team who are going through a rebuilding process as well. Ranked only 15th by FIFA, the female Italian team is miles from what the male football team is… or should we say was. The 2019 World Cup will be their first appearance in the World Cup in 20 years, and with the quality they possess, it should not be surprising they are not considered to be among the favorites to go a long way.
Unlike Italy, who are expected to struggle, Australia is a team that is capable of leaving a mark. Although they missed out on 1991 inaugural tournament, Australia has participated in every World Cup that followed. Despite the fact they never managed to win it, Australia is a team that is capable of facing off against some of the best teams out there and making them work for a win. Their star player is Samantha Kerr, who is just an exceptional all-around attacking player and a real threat to any team who does not have a solid defense.
Unlike Germany and Australia, who both gathered plenty of experience competing in the World Cup, Jamaica comes into 2019 World Cup as newcomers. They wrote history by becoming the first Caribbean nation to reach the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and while they are far from favorites to go all the way, it’s still nice to see some fresh legs competing on the grand stage. The “Reggae Girls” managed to reach the historic achievement by finishing 3rd in 2018 CONCACAF Women Championship. Currently rank 53rd in the world, we cannot justify expecting a lot from them, however, at the end of the day, the girls wrote history and got a chance to compete against the best, which is a victory enough.
When we look at the teams competing in group C, and ask ourselves which one will end up at the top, we cannot look past Brazil. While I have mentioned the team lacks quality to win the World Cup, they still possess enough good players to finish ahead of Australia, Nigeria and Italy. The only team that could realistically take points from them is Australia, however, I still believe Brazil will be able to overcome the “Matildas” and exit group C as the group leaders.
Prediction: Brazil to win the group
Odds: 2.37 Bet365
Stake: 1 Unit
2019 Women’s World Cup – Group D Preview
Group D of the 2019 Women’s World Cup will consist of England, Scotland, Argentina and Japan. The matches for the group will take place from June 9th – June 19th.
Featuring England, Argentina, the 2011 champions Japan and newcomers Scotland, group D will split the teams into two parts. Japan and England, who will fight for the 1st spot and Argentina with Scotland who will try to leave a mark and try to grab as many points as possible.
England will be making their 5th appearance in the World Cup this year, which will also be their 4th consecutive appearance in the tournament. Despite 5 appearances in the World Cup, this year will mark the year, when the expectations will be higher than ever. Appointing Phil Neville as a coach in addition to a veritable explosion of the women’s game in the UK and of course excellent run of their male counterparts in 2018 World Cup all contributed to high expectations of the Lionesses. Currently ranked 3rd in the world, England proved themselves in the qualifiers where they went unbeaten with a 29-1 goal difference. With all that is happening, English football seems like it’s on the rise once more. The fans started believing in their teams and the male alongside the female teams started performing well. With a lot going for England, I would not be surprised to see them finishing towards the top, just like they did in Canada. To be fair, they have got the team to do it, however, with the competition getting harder each year, the road Lionesses will have to take will not be easy by no means.
Talking about long roads, it’s going to be the Japanese team who will need to travel almost 10,000km to reach their destination in France where they will attend their 8th World Cup, which could quite possibly also end in their 2nd title. Currently ranked 7th in the world, Japan has one of the best players in the world in their squad. We are of course talking about Mana Iwabuchi, who has been on the world stage ever since she was 15 years of age. Voted as the Player of the Tournament in FIFA U17 World Cup, Mana Iwabuchi will attend her 3rd World Cup this season, while being only 26. But of course, it’s not all about their star player. Japan has a strong and a young team, which does not only spell out a promising future but with the results they have been showing now, Japan looks like a solid contender for top spots in the upcoming World Cup.
Now that we got the top two teams out of the way, let’s touch Argentina and Scotland. Argentinian team had a hard road leading to the World Cup. After only managing to reach 4th place in the South America qualifying group, the Albicelestes had to overcome Panama in the playoffs which got them a ticket for their first World Cup appearance in 12 years. While it’s nice to welcome back the Argentinian ladies to the World Cup, the team as a whole does not look ready to face off against the best in the world. There are just too many issues in the team, their defence and their playstyle, which was noticed in the qualifying matches. Furthermore, I am not even convinced they will be able to stop the newcomers, Scotland.
Scotland enter the 2019 World Cup for the first time ever. Additionally, the 2019 World Cup will be their first ever major international tournament, which is a great achievement for the team who fought well to get themselves on the grand stage. With some exceptional players on the team, such as Kim Little, Lisa Evans, Erin Cuthbert, Jen Beattie and Claire Emslie, Scotland could prove to be a real threat to teams who will underestimate them.
Looking at the teams competing in group D, we can comfortably say Argentina will most likely end the group last. Scotland on the other side have some exceptional individuals and a real chance to put up a fight against anyone, but in the wider picture, they should not be able to finish higher than England and Japan. The only way I can see Scotland finishing in the top 2 is if they by some chance upset one of the top two contenders. That leaves us with Japan and England and a question of which team will finish at the top of the group. Seeing how the two sides played, this one seems like a toss-up. In my opinion, it could really go either way, and I would not be surprised if either of them finished 1st and the other 2nd. With that in mind, the odds on Japan offer value for us to bet on, as they have a legitimate chance of finishing above the Lionesses.
Prediction: Japan to win the group
Odds: 2.50 Bet365
Stake: 1 Unit
2019 Women’s World Cup – Group E Preview
Group E of the 2019 Women’s World Cup will consist of Canada, Cameroon, New Zealand and the Netherlands. The matches for the group will take place from June 10th – June 20th.
Much like a few other World Cup groups, the Group E also features two strong favorites to win and two underdogs, who are left with little to no chance of finishing in the top 2… or maybe it’s just the bookmakers who feel like this is the case. Let’s check the teams and their strengths and weaknesses heading into the World Cup 2019.
We start off with Cameroon, who had an exceptional debut appearance in the 2015 World Cup in Canada. Being put in group C with Japan, Switzerland and Ecuador, Cameroon played some exciting matches. They humiliated Ecuador 6:0, put up a tough fight against the finalists Japan (2:1) and managed to secure the 2nd spot in the group with a 1:2 win against Switzerland. Heading into the 2019 World Cup, Cameroon will hope to repeat their success from 4 years ago, with the help of the African Players of the Year Gaelle Enganamouit, who is the driving force behind The Indomitable Lionesses. There are however question marks all over the team, who only got a chance to play 3 games since October of 2018. Furthermore, out of those 3, Cameroon won only once against Croatia (2:1) but lost to China (1:0) and Spain (4:0).
The 2015 World Cup hosts, Canada got themselves a ticket for their 7th consecutive World Cup by finishing 2nd in CONCACAF qualifying tournament. There is not anything, in particular, to say about the team. They are simply good. It’s worth noting Canada are by no means a real threat for the title, however seeing how they performed in their recent matches when they lost only once in the last 14, there are little to no arguments to make against them topping the group. It’s no secret Canada underperformed in the 2015 World Cup on their own soil, however, the rank 5 team in the world has improved drastically ever since then. A lot of the credit goes to Christine Sinclair, who is the all-time leading goal scorer alongside also holding the most appearance for the national team.
The Netherlands team come into group E as the favorites to finish above Canada, New Zealand and Cameroon. Just like 4 years ago, Netherlands qualified for the World Cup via the play-off route, when they took care of Denmark and Switzerland with relative ease. Proving once more, they are the team to beat, the European champions, led by their star player and 2017 Women’s Player of the year Lieke Martens will hope to go far in the World Cup. With strong performances before heading into the World Cup, Netherlands will look to get the wheels moving in the group stage and keep them rolling in the knockout stages. All in all, I believe they should not be underestimated, but at the same time, I don’t see the Netherlands as a real threat to go all the way.
Last on our list is New Zealand, who are by no means one of the teams we expect to see go deep into the tournament. They are without a doubt a team with the most experienced players. Seven of their players have more than 100 caps for the national team, with the leading player in caps just a couple away from reaching 140. But experience without quality is nothing, which is exactly what the issue is with the Ferns. Nonetheless, the ladies will look to reach their first ever knockout stage this year, which will prove to be a hard task, but by no means an impossible one.
Looking at the group as a whole, it screams exciting matches. While it’s expected to feature Canada and the Netherlands fighting for the top spot, I would not be surprised to see some close matches against the “underdogs”. As for our pick, we had to put Canada and Netherlands side by side, to see which one looks stronger, and after some consideration, we would not feel comfortable going against Canada. While they were not impressive in the 2015 World Cup, Canada has improved drastically and should be more than ready to go against the European champions.
Prediction: Canada to win the group
Odds: 2.20 Bet365
Stake: 1 Unit
2019 Women’s World Cup – Group F Preview
Group F of the 2019 Women’s World Cup will consist of United States of America, Thailand, Chile and Sweden. The matches for the group will take place from June 11th – June 20th.
A group which looks like a complete mismatch just might be more interesting as it may seem at first glance. Featuring the most successful national team in the history alongside the newcomers Chile, the underdogs Thailand and 2003 runners-up Sweden, group E promises to be an interesting one to watch.
Starting with the rank 1 team, the United States, who boasts with 3 World titles from 1991, 1999 and 2015, which also makes them the most successful team on the World stage. Coming from an impressive 5:2 win over Japan in the 2015 World Cup in Canada, the US team will hope they can repeat their performances this year, as well and reach for the stars for the 4th time. Despite being a powerhouse in the women’s football, the time will come for US to step down sooner or later. With the improvements to female football and increased influx of more and more talent, the teams grow stronger and more competitive with each year.
Heading into the 2019 World Cup, the US team also looks significantly different from the one we saw lifting the trophy in 2015. This sometimes means improvement, but I could argue this is not the case here. With the retirement of Hope Solo, US team lost a lot of quality. Alyssa Naeher, her replacement, is by no means a bad player, however, she is nowhere near as reliable as her predecessor, which will be a huge weak spot for US team this year.
The US southern neighbors, Chile will travel a long way to France where they will get a chance to experience something they haven’t had a chance to do before. And no it’s not croissants, but rather a chance to participate in their first ever World Cup tournament. Traveling to France where Chile will play in the World Cup is a huge achievement on its own for this South American team, who sadly I do not see advancing any further. Should they be placed in an easier group, maybe, but being put face to face with US and Sweden, I give Chile a fraction of a chance to qualify for the knockout stages.
Sweden is a team the bookmaker feels like are the 2nd most likely team to advance from the group which is a fair assessment. Ranked 9th in the world, Sweden look like a strong contender to reach the knockout stages and maybe even progress deeper into the tournament. While they have some issues on their hand, mainly the retirement of Lotta Schelin and the injury blight on Caroline Seger, Sweden still has some impressive players that can compensate. Still, the team is putting all their hopes on the shoulders of Stina Blackstenius, who will be the driving force behind Sweden’s success.
Lastly, we have Thailand, who are widely considered to be the worse team of the tournament. While there are be some arguments to be made that Thailand could defeat Jamaica, thus become the 2nd worst in the World Cup, I see no point in trying to figure out who is on the other side of the title. Appearing in their 3rd World Cup, Thailand never got out of the group stages, which won’t change this year either. As a rank 29th in the world, they are officially better than Chile, but to be fair I don’t see them winning a single match in the group stage.
We can almost certainly make up how will the group look on June 20th. The United States first, followed by Sweden, Chile and Thailand at the bottom.
But as we know nothing is for sure, and neither is the expectations for US to finish 1st in the group. Yes, they are the rank 1 team in the world, and the most successful team in the World Cup, but we need to consider the fact US come into the 2019 World Cup with a different team. There have been several changes to the 2015 World Cup winning team, but the most notable is the goalkeeper position, which is no longer occupied by Hope Solo, but rather Alyssa Naeher, who is not nearly as good as Hope was. Numerous times before have we seen Hope singlehandedly winning the match for her team, and with her out of the picture, US are weaker, especially in the defense. Sweden on the other side is a team that has some exceptional strikers more than capable of exploiting the new weakness of the US team.
The odds are stacked against Sweden to finish 1st, however, if all the pieces fall together and all the stars align, I would not be surprised if the Swedish attack manages to exploit US defense and climbs their way to the top of group E. With odds of XXX, I feel like this risk is more than fair to take.
Prediction: Sweden to win the group
Odds: 4.33
Stake: 1 Unit
