Tag: Spain WNT

2020 SheBelieves Cup: Updated Rosters, USA TV Schedule, and News Updates

The 2020 edition of the SheBelieves Cup, which is hosted by the United States Women’s National Team, officially gets underway on Thursday, March 5th.  Rosters for the four participating teams – the USWNT, England, Japan, and first-timer Spain – have all been announced.

In the United States, all USWNT matches will be shown live on ESPN channels, while the non-USA matches will be available via ESPN’s streaming platforms. Continue reading “2020 SheBelieves Cup: Updated Rosters, USA TV Schedule, and News Updates”

Opponent Watch: Spain’s Roster for the 2020 SheBelieves Cup

With inaugural SheBelieves Cup participants France and Germany once again not returning and last year’s debutante Brazil preferring the allure of France, the Netherlands, and Canada, the United States Women’s National Team needed to find a new participant for its four-team friendly tournament.  Eventually, the USA settled on #13-ranked Spain, who you might remember from that nail-biting Round of 16 match in last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup (official highlights).

While Spain’s players may have revenge on their mind, head coach Jorge Vilda is focused on preparing for the back half of qualifying for the 2021 UEFA Women’s Euro, which will be hosted by fellow SheBelieves Cup team England.  Although Spain easily won its first two qualifying matches last autumn, the Iberian team hit a slight road bump in the form of a nil-nil away draw with Poland. Continue reading “Opponent Watch: Spain’s Roster for the 2020 SheBelieves Cup”

Finally! U.S. Soccer Officially Announces 2020 SheBelieves Cup Teams and Schedule

Today, U.S. Soccer finally confirmed the teams and venues for the 2020 edition of the SheBelieves Cup, which will be hosted by the United States Women’s National Team.  The other three teams will be England, Japan, and first-time participant Spain.

The Cup’s matches will be played on Thursday, March 5th; Sunday, March 8th; and Wednesday, March 11th.  All USWNT matches will be televised live via ESPN channels (English language) and TUDN (Spanish language).  Tickets officially go on sale on Friday, January 17th, although there will be a Visa cardholder “pre-sale” on Thursday, January 16th. Continue reading “Finally! U.S. Soccer Officially Announces 2020 SheBelieves Cup Teams and Schedule”

Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: November 2019 Group Stage Window Recap and Highlights

UEFA Women's Euro logo

The year’s final qualifying matches for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2021 ended in disappointment for the Republic of Ireland and Portugal, who both saw late equalizers dash their hopes of full points, as well as Spain and Wales, who were each held to scoreless draws.  Top contenders, the Netherlands, France, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria all finish the year on full points, as all are yet to concede a draw or lost.

Qualifying for the 2021 Women’s Euro, which will be hosted by England, resumes in March 2020, although most of the top contenders do not restart their qualifying campaigns until April 2020.

England, was also in action this window, playing two friendlies:  First, hosting Germany at Wembley in front of a home attendance record of 77,768 on Saturday, and then an away friendly at the Czech Republic on Tuesday.

Continue reading “Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: November 2019 Group Stage Window Recap and Highlights”

Roster Round-Up: November 2019 International Window

A (belated) round-up of rosters for top national teams who will be playing (or have played) during the November international window, whether in friendlies or Women’s Euro qualifiers.

Roster covered in this article:

  • CONCACAF:  Canada
  • CONMEBOL:  Brazil
  • AFC: Australia, Japan
  • UEFA:  England, Germany, Netherlands, France, Spain, Norway

The rosters for the United States and Sweden are analyzed in separate articles:

For Costa Rica roster analysis, see Opponent Watch: Costa Rica’s Roster and Depth Chart for November 2019 Friendly

Continue reading “Roster Round-Up: November 2019 International Window”

Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: October 2019 Group Stage Window Recap and Highlights

UEFA Women's Euro logo

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”

Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: October International Window Preview

UEFA Women's Euro logoQualifying 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”

Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: August-September 2019 Group Stage Window Recap

UEFA Women's Euro logoQualifying 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”

Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: Match Highlights for the August-September 2019 Group Stage Window

UEFA Women's Euro logoOfficial highlights of nine Women’s Euro qualifying matches, featuring Germany, the Netherlands, Scotland, Sweden, Norway, Austria, and more, plus the two England friendlies (versus Belgium and Norway) and the France-Spain friendly.

Most videos are from YouTube, while some are embedded inside Twitter tweets or Instagram posts.  If I find any more notable highlights for this qualification window, they will be added to this post.

Continue reading “Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: Match Highlights for the August-September 2019 Group Stage Window”