By Yoan Mari (Residence Advisor-Salish House)
As we get closer to the end of the year, I look back to when school hadn’t started yet. No midterms or finals to worry about, no papers to write, no presentations to prepare. As a huge football fan (and yes, I will call it football), I spent most of my days watching games, wondering which team was the best, and making bets with my friends about which country would win one of the most desired trophies in the world: the FIFA World Cup.
But after Germany took that cup and held it proudly, I started thinking: “the next one is four years from now, what am I going to do?” I was really sad until I realized something: women’s football is growing; women’s football also has its FIFA World Cup. And guess what? It is next year! In Canada!
So here it is: all you need to know about the seventh Women’s FIFA World Cup.
Starting on June 20th, 24 countries will play for the gold: Australia, China, South Korea, Thailand, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Costa Rica, Mexico, the United States, Brazil, Colombia, New Zealand, England, France, Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the hosting team Canada, and the current champions: Japan. Two more teams still have to qualify; these will be the winners of Ecuador versus Trinidad & Tobago, and the Netherlands versus Italy.
It will take place in 6 different cities: Montreal, Edmonton, Ottawa, Moncton, Winnipeg and Vancouver! That’s right, after 15 days of intense competition; our very own BC Place will host the Final game, on July 5th.
The World Cup will have to stages:
- A group stage: 6 groups (A to F) of 4 teams. Each team of each group will play against each other. The two best teams of
each group will advance to the next stage. Then, out of the 6 teams ranked 3rd in their respective groups, the 4 best will advance. - A knockout stage: the remaining teams will then be able to play up to four more games (round-of-16, quarter finals, semi-finals and final game). If a team loses a game, the team is eliminated.
The draw that decides the composition of the groups will be held on Saturday December 6th at 9.00AM (Vancouver time). The long wait until the start of the competition will begin. And until then, I will be watching every possible preparation game, wondering which team is the best and trying to guess which country will carry the gold all the way back home.
Will Japan hold their title? Will Germany prove their worldwide domination by winning both cups? Will last year’s runners up, the United States, make the extra step to the top? Will Canada rise and bring the Cup home? Who will win? Who will lose? All these questions will be answered on Saturday June 20th, 2015! But the real question is: Will YOU be there?
And may the odds be ever in your favour!
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