Earlier today, CONCACAF held the group draw for the 2020 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualification Championship, which will be hosted by the United States. As hosts, the United States Women’s National Team were placed in Group A. The USA’s opponents in Group A are Costa Rica, Panama, and Haiti. Group B, headlined by Canada will consist of Mexico, Jamaica, and Saint Kitts & Nevis. Continue reading “2020 Olympic Qualifying: Draw Results, Schedule, and Venue Details”
Category: Opposition Research
Posts on the USWNT’s upcoming opponents, its key rivals (Brazil, Germany, Japan, and Sweden), its neighbors (Canada and Mexico). For posts about youth WNT opponents, please see the Under-xx category.
Opponent Watch: Sweden’s Roster for the November 2019 Friendly
On Thursday, November 7th, the United States Women’s National Team will play their first match under new head coach Vlatko Andonovski when they face Sweden, who finished third at the 2019 Women’s World Cup. This will be the 40th match all-time versus Sweden. Last month, Sweden announced a travel roster of 23 players (SvFF), though that roster has since been reduced to 21 as Linda Sembrant suffered a contusion during a club match (SvFF), while Caroline Seger was withdrawn for unspecified recovery reasons (SvFF).
Continue reading “Opponent Watch: Sweden’s Roster for the November 2019 Friendly”
2020 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship: Draw Speculation
With Caribbean and Central American Olympic qualifying concluded, the field is now set for the 2020 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship, which is expected to be hosted by the United States and is expected to run from January 28 to February 9, 2020 (per the Washington Post‘s Steven Goff – Twitter).
Joining the USA, Canada, and Mexico are Costa Rica, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, and Saint Kitts & Nevis. Of these eight teams, two will claim a ticket to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
This article takes a quick look at how the teams will most likely be divided into pots for the yet-to-be-announced group draw.
Continue reading “2020 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship: Draw Speculation”
Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: October 2019 Group Stage Window Recap and Highlights
Qualifying for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2021 continued this month, with no significant surprise results among the top teams. That said, the October window was not without drama:
In Group A, the Netherlands needed a 78th minute goal to separate themselves from Slovenia. Elsewhere, Kazakhstan held expected Group G winner France scoreless for over 55 minutes. And, in Group B, minnow Malta kept Italy off the scoresheet for even longer, at almost 70 minutes.
But the match of the window was the Republic of Ireland’s 3:2 victory over Ukraine, which saw Ukraine equalize at 2:2 just fifteen minutes after Ireland took a 2-nil lead. The tie did not last for long, as a deflected blocked shot led to a decisive own goal in favor of the home team.
Host England was also in action, playing two friendlies, losing to Brazil in Middlesbrough and defeating Portugal 1:0 on the road. The victory against Portugal snapped a five-game winless streak that stretched back to the Lionesses semifinal loss to the United States in this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup. Continue reading “Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: October 2019 Group Stage Window Recap and Highlights”
October 2019 International Window – Notable Friendlies Highlights
Not much to read here, just a short collection of highlights videos for notable friendlies played during the October international window.
Videos include France-Iceland, Poland-Brazil, Japan-Canada, and both USA-Korea Republic matches. Continue reading “October 2019 International Window – Notable Friendlies Highlights”
Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: October International Window Preview
Qualifying for the 2021 UEFA Women’s Euro continues this week, with 31 matches being played this window, including 10 matches on Friday, October 4th and 17 matches on Tuesday, October 8th. France and Spain, who both had byes in the first qualifying window, start their qualification campaigns with relatively easy opponents.
Format Summary: Each group winner and the top three runners-up qualify for the final tournament, which is hosted by England. The remaining six runners-up are paired in home-and-away playoffs for the final three slots.
See my 2021 UEFA Women’s Euro – Qualifying Group Stage Guide (PDF, 1.7MB) for more details, as well as a complete list of all groups, all matches, helpful schedule tables, and more.
The marquee match of the window is in Group “I”, with the Republic of Ireland hosting Ukraine on Tuesday, in a Pot 3 vs. Pot 2 match-up. Both teams are vying for the runner-up spot in a group that should be dominated by powerhouse Germany, who first host Ukraine on Saturday, October 5th, before traveling to Greece for a Tuesday away match. Continue reading “Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: October International Window Preview”
Roster Round-Up: October 2019 International Window
A round-up of rosters for top national teams who will be playing during the October international window, whether in friendlies or Women’s Euro qualifiers.
Roster links and brief write-ups for the following other teams are provided in this article:
CONCACAF: Canada
CONMEBOL: Brazil
AFC: Japan
UEFA: England, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, France, Spain, Norway
A write-up on the roster for the USWNT’s opponent this international window, Korea Republic, can be found here. For details on the USWNT’s roster, see USWNT on TV: October 2019 Friendlies vs. Korea Republic.
Continue reading “Roster Round-Up: October 2019 International Window”
Opponent Watch: Korea Republic Roster For October USWNT Friendlies Announced
Update (2-Oct-2019): Forward Yeo Minji is a late scratch, as she did not travel with the team, per U.S. Soccer.
Earlier this week, the Korean Football Association announced a 24-player roster for the upcoming friendlies against the United States Women’s National Team, which will be played on Thursday, October 3rd, and Sunday, October 6th. These two friendlies are expected to be the final USWNT matches helmed by Jill Ellis, who will be stepping down as head coach following those matches.
The times and TV details for those matches are as follows:
- Thursday, October 3rd at 8:00PM EDT – Fox Sports 1 (pregame at 7:30 PM EDT)
- Sunday, October 6th at 2:00 PM EDT – ESPN Continue reading “Opponent Watch: Korea Republic Roster For October USWNT Friendlies Announced”
Opponent Watch: Korea Republic Will Have An Interim Head Coach, Previous Coach Resigned After Investigation Into Abuse Allegations
In October, the United States Women’s National Team will play the Korea Republic in two matches. Korea will be led by an interim head coach, Hwang In-Sun, as the previous head coach, Choi In-cheul, resigned less than two weeks after being hired by the Korean Football Association, following allegations of physical abuse against players.
Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: August-September 2019 Group Stage Window Recap
Qualifying for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2021, which will be hosted by England, got underway last week, as 30 matches were played over six days. None of the top favorites stumbled, as Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, Iceland, and Russia each earned two wins out of two matches, while other notable teams, such as Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria each won their only qualifying match of the window. Continue reading “Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: August-September 2019 Group Stage Window Recap”
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