The Best Women's World Cup Ever

When FIFA expanded the Women's World Cup to 32 teams, I was skeptical.  While I thought the 24 teams that featured in the last two editions of the tournament weren't enough, I worried 32 might be too many.  I'm happy to say I was wrong about that.  Because the recently-completed group stage in Australia and New Zealand has proven just how good the women's game has gotten around the world.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who drew some (unwarranted) criticism for leaving for a few days during the tournament (to meet with federation presidents from around Oceania) before coming back, has called this "the best Women's World Cup" ever.  It's a bold statement.  Especially when you consider the fact that the tournament's only half over.  But if the knockout stage is anything like the group stage, there won't even be a question.

We should've known what was in store right off the bat, when New Zealand upset Norway in the opening game of the tournament!  My concern about the expanded field was that there would be a greater disparity between the top teams and the lower-ranked nations, but that hasn't been the case at all.  Sure, there have been blowouts.  But not as many as might've been anticipated.  And even the teams that have gotten blown out have come back to win games later in the tournament (Zambia had a -12 goal differential going into its last game, when it beat Costa Rica).

This Women's World Cup has been the perfect follow up to last year's men's edition in Qatar.  That tournament saw exciting games, surprise teams, and unexpected results, and was capped by a memorable final that ended with an all-time legend finally crowned a champion.  We don't know how this one will end yet, obviously, but exciting games?  Check.  Surprise teams?  Check.  Unexpected results?  Check.

Most significantly, the growth of the women's game has been on full display in this Women's World Cup.  And it's only going to get stronger.  As more countries invest in their women's programs and more girls have access to soccer, we'll see more and more nations not just qualify for the Women's World Cup, but go there and be competitive.

There have been nine previous Women's World Cups.  Only four countries have won the title.  And two of those (Norway and Japan) have only won it once!  The United States and Germany have six Women's World Cups between them, and every previous Women's World Cup final has featured one of the two (although they've never played each other in the final).  So, it's not an exaggeration to say the same handful of countries have dominated the tournament in the past.

It sure looked like it would be business as usual for Germany after they opened the tournament with a 6-0 win over Morocco.  Then they lost to Colombia.  Then, in their final group game, they couldn't find the second goal they needed in a 1-1 draw with South Korea.  That result, coupled with Morocco's win over Colombia meant, shockingly, the second-ranked Germans were out.  For the first time in history, they didn't get out of the group stage.

Neither did Brazil.  Marta's Women's World Cup career ended with a 0-0 draw against Jamaica, a team comprised mainly of college players that needed to fundraise just to travel to Australia.  Now they're in the knockout stage.  Also eliminated: Olympic champion Canada, which got completely blitzed by host Australia in a finale that was a must-win for both teams.

And let's not forget the United States came inches away from being eliminated themselves.  Portugal hit the post late in second-half stoppage time of the final group game, which ended in a 0-0 draw.  Had that ball gone in, Portugal advances and the two-time defending champions are also out.  So, when you consider what happened to Germany, Brazil and Canada, the U.S. coming so close to getting knocked out shows you just how lucky they were to survive despite not playing well at all in the first three games.

What was obvious right from that first game against Vietnam is that the U.S. might still be the best team, but the gap is nowhere near what it was!  The rest of the world has definitely caught up!  Which is a good thing all around.  Because that means things will only get more competitive moving forward and having superior talent alone won't be enough to stay on top.

Of course, we also saw some teams show exactly why they were among the pre-tournament favorites.  Sweden has long been one of the top-ranked women's teams in the world, yet has never won a World Cup or Olympic gold medal.  That could easily change if they win their mandatory World Cup game against the U.S. (they were in the same group at every Women's World Cup from 2003-19) in the round of 16.  That is if European champion England doesn't win.  Or a France squad that was the second-best team in the tournament four years ago and you know will be a medal contender when they host the Olympics next year.

That's the thing, though.  We enter the knockout stage with a good number of teams believing they have a legitimate chance at lifting the trophy.  It's not just those three European teams I mentioned.  There's also the United States, the Netherlands, Spain and the Japan-Norway winner.  And Australia's the home team, so they can't be counted out, either.

While one of those nations will likely be the champion, let's celebrate how historic this round of 16 is, though.  Morocco was the first Arab country ever to make it to the Women's World Cup.  Now they're in the round of 16, one of three African teams to get there, along with Nigeria and South Africa.  Jamaica became the first CONCACAF team other than the United States or Canada to reach the knockout phase.  And Colombia won its group.

I wouldn't say this Women's World Cup has been as crazy and unexpected as the men's edition last year.  At least not yet.  It has been close, though.  What it certainly has been is just as entertaining.  And proof that 32 teams isn't too many.  In fact, it might not be enough.