The USWNT will soon find out what it's path to defending it’s world title will look like. The 2019 Women's World Cup draw is nearly here.
The Women's World Cup draw is the most important facet of a tournament that teams have no control over. Here’s a brief overview of when it takes place, how it works and what it all means.
2019 Women's World Cup Draw
When is the Women's World Cup draw?
The 2019 Women's World Cup draw will be held on Saturday, Dec. 8, in a suburb of Paris. The draw will start at 12 p.m. ET and will be broadcast in the U.S. on FS2, Telemundo and Universo and available on FOX Sports GO.
Who qualified for the Women's World Cup?
Aside from host France, every team went through qualifying in its respective confederation, with nine (including France) from UEFA, five from Asia, three from Concacaf, three from CONMEBOL, three from Africa and one from Oceania.
The qualified nations include:
- France
- England
- Germany
- Italy
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Scotland
- Spain
- Sweden
- United States
- Canada
- Jamaica
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Chile
- Australia
- China
- Japan
- South Korea
- Thailand
- Cameroon
- Nigeria
- South Africa
- New Zealand
How does the Women's World Cup draw work?
All 24 teams will be placed into one of four pots based on FIFA’s world rankings, except for France, which as host has already been placed in Pot 1 (though the France is a top-six team anyway). FIFA will use the new rankings that will be released on Dec. 7, so the pots will only be decided the day before the draw.
The 24 teams will then be placed into six groups of four, with no more than one nation from each confederation in each group with the exception of UEFA, which must have either one or two members in each group because there are nine teams qualified.
As it currently stands, the U.S. would be in Pot 1 with France, Germany, England, Canada and Australia.
France is automatically placed in A1 (Group A, position 1) as host. Every other spot is up for grabs.
FIFA’s website has a fun little draw simulator that lets you pick how the draw turns out and explains how it all works, such as ensuring there is at least one UEFA nation in each group (though as of publication it has yet to add the most recent qualifiers).
What’s the Women’s World Cup format?
With the 24 teams divided into six groups of four, each group plays a round-robin format (everyone plays everyone once). Three points are awarded for a win, while teams that draw each get one point (matches don’t go to extra time).
The top two teams in each group automatically qualify for the 16-team knockout rounds. Additionally, the top four third-place teams qualify.
From there, the 16 remaining teams play a single-elimination knockout tournament. If a knockout-round match is tied after 90 minutes, the teams go to two 15-minute halves of extra time and then, if necessary, a penalty kick shootout.
Who will play where?
In addition to determining which group each team will compete in, the Women's World Cup draw will also determine where the teams will play, as each group already has a set schedule.
There are nine cities hosting matches, including: Paris, Lyon, Le Havre, Montpellier, Nice, Grenoble, Rennes, Reims and Valenciennes. The semifinals and final will be in Lyon.
When is the Women’s World Cup?
The Women’s World Cup will begin on June 7 and run through July 7. The knockout round begins on June 22, with the semifinals scheduled for July 2 and 3. The third-place match will be July 6 in Nice.
How do I watch the Women’s World Cup?
In the United States, the Women’s World Cup will be broadcast by FOX in English and Telemundo/Universo in Spanish.
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