The United States of America Women’s National Team would dominate the last World Cup back in 2015, most notably in the final against Japan, where the United States would explode with four goals in the first 16 minutes. America would never look back against the Japanese, grabbing a 5-2 win to become world champions. The World Cup victory gave the States their first World Cup since 1999, and as a result, the USA now enters as the favorite to repeat in 2019.
Sitting at +300 in the odds, there are multiple reasons why the United States are the favorites to win another World Cup — it’ll be their fourth overall if they win this year.
The main reason: The USWNT has only tallied four losses throughout its entire history in the Women’s World Cup. Altogether, their record is 33-6-4. Other than their three World Cup victories, they also have three third-place finishes on their resume, and they’ve also finished second place once. If it weren’t for penalties against Japan in 2011, the United States could have been gunning for their fifth title this year.
For the 2019 team, it’s business as usual for the United States coming in with a load of talent. Leading a potent offense is Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath, and included with even more firepower from Mallory Pugh, Christian Press, Carli Lloyd, and Megan Rapinoe. They come in as the most talented team in the World Cup, and very limited teams in the tournament can keep up.
Even though the United States is definitely the most talented team in the tournament and they deserve to be the oddsmakers’ favorite, you should take this winning pick with a little caution, and that’s due to head coach Jill Ellis and her decision-making. With controversy swirling around Ellis, it’ll be interesting to see how the U.S. performs in the World Cup.
The main reason for the media buzz surrounding Ellis is the chemistry that she’s built up, or the lack thereof. For months now before the World Cup, Ellis has been consistently changing the starting lineup and formations for the team. However, like previously mentioned, the United States are incredibly talented and that will cover a lot of the errors and decisions, but just keep an eye on that for a potential upset later on in the tournament — especially when we get near the end of the knockout round.
Another thing to keep an eye on with the United States as well is their goalie situation, they’ll be without Hope Solo and her elite ability in protecting the goal. In this year’s World Cup, the U.S. will now have Alyssa Naeher in the position. Though she’s a reliable goaltender, Naeher isn’t elite like Solo was. Also keep an eye on that for a potential upset, because Solo had a massive clutch gene — something that’s still on the fence with Naeher.
France isn’t far behind the United States in the odds at +350, placing in second with the oddsmakers. The French women have massive motivation as well, looking to win the Women’s World Cup just a year after the men from France won their World Cup tournament.
Here’s the best part for the French in the 2019 World Cup: They have homeground advantage with the tournament taking place in French cities Lyon, Paris, Nice, Rennes, Montpellier, Le Havre, Valenciennes, Reims, and Grenoble. Expect the utmost passion from French soccer fans to definitely play a role in France’s success, which makes them scary for the United States — especially since France is ranked No. 4 in the world. Look for the two nations to possibly meet up in the quarterfinals for a heavyweight battle.
Here’s the bad news for France and their homeground advantage, however: There’s only been one team in the history of the Women’s World Cup to win the tournament in their country — that was the United States back in 1999. In the other six Women’s World Cups, the nation hosting the tournament failed to make the final, and on top of that, also failed to lock up a top 4 position in five of those.
In the entire history of the tournament, Germany comes in as one of the most successful in the world — they currently sit third in the odds placed at +500. With an all-time record of 26-5-8 in the World Cup, the Germans have won two World Cups, a second place finish once, and they would also tally in the top 4 in fourth twice.
For Germany, though, the pressure will certainly be there for them in the 2019 version of the Women’s World Cup. This is due to Germany’s Men’s National Team who would finish in dead last in group play at the 2018 World Cup. Germany’s Women’s National Team will now be expected to redeem the glory for the men. And they’ve got a good head start on that: They’re in an extraordinarily weak group, and their draw is favorable as well in the knockout round — they have no group winners to face off against until the World Cup Semi-finals.
With their number of +600 in the odds, England will be the best pick to make a bundle of cash with Jodie Taylor, Lucy Bronze and a load of talent at the helm. In February, the English would win the SheBelieves Cup, and that would earn impressive victories over Brazil and Japan in that tournament — they would also draw with the United States. In the last Women’s World Cup in 2015, England would take the third-place finish, which would be their best result in an international tournament. Needless to say, there’s a lot of motivation for the English entering this year’s World Cup.
Now we get to the “dark horses” of the tournament, but don’t expect much of a chance for them to pull off something magical. The top four teams are so loaded in talent that the rest of the world won’t even be able to compete, or could they?
Other solid long shots that you may want to keep an eye on: Brazil (+1600), Spain (+2000), Norway (+2500) and Sweden (+2500). Take a risk on Norway, they would win the title back in 1995, but keep in mind: Their best finish since that tournament was in fourth place in 2007. I’d also ride money on Brazil and Spain, considering the culture of soccer in those nations and the talent that comes along with it.
In their past four exhibition games, the United States of America has meant business, with their most recent being a 5-0 shellacking of New Zealand. They would also shutout South Africa by a 3-0 score, and then steamroll Belgium, 6-0. Before then, Australia would make things competitive for the Americans, but the U.S. would still pull out the 5-3 win. In the SheBelieves Cup, things would be a little shaky for the United States, however. They would get a 1-0 win over Brazil, yes, but would have two 2-2 draws with both England and Japan in the tournament.
Here’s why the United States should be concerned with France other than their close +350 odds: Back in January, the French would grab a win over the U.S. by a 3-1 score, and with the French being in their country and the controversy swirling around United States head coach Jill Ellis, keep an eye on a potential upset over the Americans from France. The French would also roll in their most previous contests against Denmark (4-0), Japan (3-1) and Uruguay (6-0) for a total of a 13-1 shellacking over the three nations. However, they would lose to Germany, 0-1.
The Germans can win, however, they can also draw, but at least there aren’t any losses on their recent resume. In their most recent affair against Japan, Germany would take a 2-2 draw in a toughly contested game. Before then though, they would get back-to-back wins against Sweden and France — they would win against Sweden, 1-0, and then would take the victory over France, 1-0. The Germans would have another contest with Spain, another country with a rich history in soccer, they would settle for a 0-0 draw. They would hammer Italy, however, 5-2.
For the most part, England has had a successful 2019 campaign, though there is a flaw: A 0-1 loss to Canada, a team who is a distant +2000 in the current Women’s World Cup odds. Now to the winning: In their last contest in April against Spain, it would be a hell of a battle, but the English would take the 2-1 victory. When they would face off against Japan, England would shut them out for a 3-0 win. And then came the United States: Even though the English wouldn’t grab the victory, it would be a solid 2-2 draw with the Americans — the best team in the world.
For the Japanese, they would start out 2019 on a high note, getting a 1-0 victory over China, a 4-1 smacking over the women from Norway, and they would then grab a solid 2-2 draw with the United States. Afterwards, the Japanese would pick up another great win over Brazil, 3-1. But then things got shaky for the ‘rising sun’, but in their defense, it would come against elite competition. They would suffer back-to-back defeats against England (0-3) and France (1-3). They would recover a little bit though with a 2-2 draw over Germany, a very tough competitor.
The Netherlands would get off to a pretty bad start in 2019, taking a 0-2 loss to Spain and then a disappointing 0-1 loss to Poland. After that, however, the Dutch would get a win over China after they would win in penalties, 4-2. Then they would really roll, starting with a 2-0 win over Mexico and then would absolutely steamroll Chile by a 7-0 score. As you see, the Netherlands would start out the 2019 campaign not in the most positive way, but they’ve started winning, and only continue to improve to the point where they’re starting to dominate. Watch out, folks.
For the most part, Australia has been on point for the 2019 campaign, and as a result, they would be an excellent long shot pick to bet on. In their most recent match against the top-ranked United States of America, they would lose, yes, but it would be tightly contested and the Aussies would give them all that they can handle, 3-5. Before that, Australia would roll over competition for four straight victories — it would include a 3-0 win over Argentina, a 4-1 shellacking of South Korea, a 2-0 shutout over rival New Zealand, and a 5-0 bombing of Chile.
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