2024 – Page 10 – Women's Soccer Express

A 48-Team FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2031?

Update (9-May-2025): The 2031 FIFA WWC will have a field of 48-teams.

On Tuesday, two separate articles were published by British media about a push for FIFA to expand the final tournament of the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup to 48 teams, which would match the size of the next men’s World Cup in 2026 .

Absent a change in format, the expansion to 48 teams would introduce an additional knockout round, the Round of Thirty-Two, extend the length of the tournament by several days, and increase the number of matches from 64 (48 group, 16 knockout) to 104 (72 group, 32 knockout). (2026 men’s World Cup – Wikipedia) The expansion may also mean an increase in the roster size for each team.

Read on for the key quotes from each article, plus a discussion of the allocations by confederation for recent Women’s World Cups as well as a potential allocation scenario for a generic 48-team Women’s World Cup. For this specific scenario, a table of the potential pots is also presented.

Additionally, an alternative tournament format is discussed, which would preserve a traditional 32-team format for the final tournament but introduce an intermediate inter-confederation group stage.

U-20 WWC 2024: Round of Sixteen, Day One – Highlights

The first-ever Round of Sixteen at a FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup has not lacked for drama. Two matches went into extra time, including the USA’s drama-filled 3:2 victory over their southern neighbors, Mexico. Brazil also needed a full 120 minutes to defeat Cameroon, though the game-winning goal came less than 20 seconds into the first period of added time. Also, Spain needed a comeback victory over Canada, while host Colombia defeated Cameroon on just a single Linda Caicedo goal. And that was just the first day of Round of Sixteen matches.

Here are the video highlights for Wednesday’s matches, with a brief recap of the USA-Mexico match, plus the schedule for Thursday.

NWSL Referee Assignments: September 13-16, 2024

Friday, September 13th

Courage vs. Bay FC: JC Griggs (VAR: Ekaterina Koroleva)
Pride vs. Current: Alyssa Nichols (VAR: Shawn Tehini)
Thorns vs. Red Stars: Elton Garcia (VAR: Corbyn May)

Saturday, September 14th

Racing vs. Angel City: Danielle Chesky (VAR: Kevin Broadley)
Royals vs. Wave: Laura Rodriguez (VAR: Alyssa Nichols)

Sunday, September 15th

Spirit vs. Dash: Matthew Corrigan (VAR: Adorae Monroy)

Monday, September 16th

Reign vs. Gotham: Shawn Tehini (VAR: Alexandra Billeter)

Source: PRO

NWSL News of Note: Cece Kizer signed by Gotham, Alozie and Bike extend, U-20 WWC Players Update, Former Royals Find New Homes

Here are the notables since last Friday’s update:

Gotham FC: Forward Cece Kizer signs through 2025
Houston Dash: Michelle Alozie extends for two seasons
Chicago Red Stars: Jenna Bike extends through 2026
U-20 WWC Players Update
Former Utah Royals find new homes
Gotham FC: Sinead Farrelly honored on Sunday
ESPN: NWSL General Manager survey

U-20 WWC 2024: Round of Sixteen Schedule with TV and Streaming Details

Full bracket for the knockout phase of the 2024 U-20 WWC

On Wednesday, September 11th, for the first time, a Round of Sixteen will get underway at a FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup.

Among the teams still in contention are Concacaf foes USA and Mexico who will face off at 9:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. That match will be shown on FOX Sports 2 (with English-language commentary) and will be streamed by Telemundo Deportes (with Spanish-language commentary).

Also on Wednesday, Canada will take on defending champions Spain. That match kicks off at 5:30 p.m. EDT.

The Round of Sixteen concludes on Thursday with four more matches, including the only other same confederation clash: France versus Netherlands.

U-20 WWC 2024: Match Day 3C – Highlights and Group Standings

On Sunday, September 8th, the group matches of the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup wrapped up. Only one spot in the Round of Sixteen was in contention as four teams, Japan, Austria, Korea DPR, and the Netherlands, were already assured of advancement into the knockout phase.

The final spot was claimed by Argentina via their 1-nil victory over Costa Rica. With the win, Argentina qualified as the fourth-best third-place team.

This was a disappointing tournament for Costa Rica after a strong performance at last year’s Concacaf Under-20 Women’s Championship where they lost to the USA in the semifinals by only 1 goal and took Canada to extra-time in the third-place match.

After two rest days, the Round of Sixteen will get underway on Wednesday, September 11th, and conclude on Thursday, September 12th.

Here are the match highlights and goals summaries for the day’s four matches, plus the standings for Group E and Group F, along with the final standings for all of third-place teams.

U-20 WWC 2024: Match Day 3B – Highlights and Group Standings

On Saturday, September 7th, three more teams secured their spots in the Round of Sixteen at the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup. Among those teams were the USA, who had a dominant 7-nil victory over Paraguay.

Also, Korea Republic upset Germany 1-nil to earn a slot as one of the best third-place teams, and Nigeria defeated Venezuela 4-nil, which gave the African side a second-place finish in Group D, behind Germany, who had already locked up a spot in the knockout phase.

In Group C, Spain, who were already guaranteed advancement, finished its group stage at maximum points, thanks to its 2-nil victory over Morocco. Meanwhile, the USA claimed second place over Paraguay, who are still mathematically alive as one of third-place teams, but will need favorable results on Sunday.

With the USA’s second place finish in Group C, they will face its Concacaf rival, Mexico, who are the second place team from Group A, on Wednesday, September 11th, at 9:00 p.m. EDT. That match will be shown live on FOX Sports 2.

Here are the match highlights and goals summaries for the day’s four matches, plus the final standings for Group C and Group D, along with the ranking of third-place teams

U-15 WYNT: 24 Players Called In for First Camp of New Cycle

On Friday, U.S. Soccer announced that the next cycle of the United States Under-15 Women’s Youth National Team will get underway with a domestic camp that starts on Sunday, September 8th, and runs through Friday, September 13th. The camp will be held in Fayetteville, Georgia.

Of the 24 players named by head coach Ciara Crinion, all but one have 2010 birth years. The lone exception is midfielder Loradana Paletta, who was born in 2011 and was a member of the USA’s squad that won last month’s Concacaf Girls’ Under-15 Championship.

One of the players, forward Stella Spitzer, is currently with a USL Super League team, Carolina Ascent FC. All of the remaining players are on youth club teams, with most (19, according to U.S. Soccer) associated with the ECNL.

U-20 WWC 2024: Match Day 3A – Highlights and Group Standings

With eight matches left in the group stage at the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, six of the slots in the Round of Sixteen have been confirmed.

On Friday, September 6th, host Colombia, along with Brazil, Mexico, and France finished as one of the top two teams in their respective groups and thus earned automatic slots in the knockout phase.

Additionally, two third-place teams, Canada and Cameroon, also secured advancement as they are mathematically guaranteed to not be among the two lowest third-place teams.

Here are the match highlights and goals summaries for the day’s four matches, plus the final standings for Group A and Group B, along with the ranking of third-place teams

NWSL News of Note: Royals Release Amandine Henry and Ifeoma Onumonu, Debinha stays in KC, plus more contract extensions

Friday, September 6th was not a slow news day in the NWSL.

Leading the notables are the addition of two new league front office hires, retired New Zealand international Sarah Gregorius for the role of “Senior Director, Sporting” and Karla Thompson as the new “Director of Youth Development”.

The top player-related headline is the departure of French midfielder Amandine Henry from the Utah Royals.

Here are the rest of the notables:

Kansas City Current: Debinha extends through 2026, with option for 2027
Houston Dash: Center back Natalie Jacobs extends through 2028
Houston Dash: Austrian midfielder Sarah Puntigam signs on for two more years
Orlando Pride: Back-up goalkeeper McKinley Crone extends through 2026
Utah Royals: Nigerian forward Ifeoma Onumonu Released