The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup starts this Friday! The group round starts on June 7th in France. USA is ranked number 1 in the world and the favorite to win the tournament again! Team USA has been top 2 in the country for the past 15 years and are the reigning World Cup Champs!

The team had a three game send off series in the US in which they played South Africa, New Zealand, and Mexico. They dominated every game, winning each by 3+ goals. It was the perfect way to get the team (and country) hyped for the World Cup!

USA is in Group F with Thailand, Sweden, and Chile. Sweden is the team who knocked out the USA in the 2016 Olympics. Revenge has been on the front of Team USA’s mind for the past few years; these players are ready to redeem themselves and bring the World Cup back to the USA!

Besides Sweden, the USA has a few other worthy competitors. The host team, France, has been building steam for the past few years, consistently coming in the top 10 for the last few Olympic and World Cup tournaments.

England placed 3rd in the 2015 World Cup and won the SheBelieves Cup this year for the first time. England has also been slowly improving their game over the past few years and after their competitive game against the USA, no one is counting them out.

Norway is also a tournament favorite, but they come with a little bit of drama. Ada Hegerberg, the most recent winner of the Women’s Ballon d’Or and one of the best players in the world, is sitting out the World Cup in protest of the difference in treatment between the men and women’s national teams in Norway. Very similar to what the US women are doing, but Ada is going at it alone. Norway is still a decent team, being given 40-1 odds to win the whole thing, but they would have had much better chances with Ada in uniform!

The final team to mention is Brazil, not because they are dominating, but because they should never be left out when when spearheaded by the incredible Marta. Even though she is getting old (for a soccer player, she’s only 33) she is still cleaning up in the NWSL for the Orlando Pride and her Brazil coaches still have full faith in her.

Die hard fans of the US Women’s National team feel good about their chances of bringing home the ‘ship! There are always concerns however. The goalies are all top of the line, but no one has been able to compare since the dominance of Brianna Scurry and Hope Solo. It looks like Alyssa Naeher will be starting; she has 45 caps and 24 of those are cleansheets (meaning no goals were scored.) The other concern is the defense. Their defense has always been the heart and soul of the team, but because of all the injuries, Coach Ellis has had a hard time locking down a backline. Luckily, the players who have been put on the field have been playing well together and should still be able to keep the ball on the upper half.

Tune in Tuesday, June 11th for the first US World Cup match vs. Thailand. Click here for the rest of the schedule. The tournament only lasts a month, so be sure to tune in to watch Team USA dominate!