FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019: Preview, Schedule, Predictions and TV listings

The eighth edition of FIFA Women's World Cup is taking place at France with 24 teams contesting for the coveted trophy.

USA and Netherlands are going to face each other in the final. Twitter

The FIFA Women's World is going to kickstart in France with the hosts facing South Korea in the first match of the competition at the Le Parc des Princes football stadium in Paris, on June 7. This is the 8th edition of the tournament which started in 1991 with the inaugral edition in China. This year, the build up has been quite good. The official mascot of the tournament is Ettie, a young French poussin.

Preview and Schedule

Chile, Scotland, South Africa, and Jamaica will be making their debuts in the tournament as part of the 24 teams contesting to win the coveted trophy. The matches will be played at nine different stadiums all over France. The opening contest between the hosts France and South Korea will start at 9 PM local time on June 7 and 12:30 AM IST (Saturday). The Les Blues are ranked 4th in the world and is expected to reach the final of the tournament, which is scheduled to be played at Lyon on July 7.

This year's World Cup is going to be the most important one in Women's football. The hype around the tournament is growing day by day. In April, FIFA stated that the tickets of the first match and semi-finals and final have been sold out within 48 hours of going on sale. FIFA is working hard to aid the rise of women's football and increase its popularity. They have been promoting the tournament like never before.

Predictions

Three-time champion and 2015 World Cup winner USA are the favourites to win the cup. The world number one side is in the same group as Thailand, Sweden and Chile. They are expected to easily qualify for the next round and go on to win the tournament. The other favourites of the tournament are France, Japan, Germany, Brazil and England. It will be a closely contested tournament, with Brazilian captain and leading goalscorer in Women's World Cup Marta probably giving her last shot at winning the trophy. The tournament will miss Norwegian footballer Ada Hegerberg who is the first female Ballon d'Or winner as she has retired from international football.

All in all the tournament will be a major way forward for Women's football as Google has already launched a doodle celebrating the start of the tournament and has taken the responsibility for its promotion.