Seth Romsa

Just seven months removed from the men’s World Cup the women will have their time to shine starting on Thursday, with a dual host between Australia and New Zealand expected to draw in fans from around the world.

Now I will admit I am not as knowledgeable of a lot of teams in the women’s game, but I will try my best to predict — just like the men’s tournament.

Starting out in group A you have one of the hosts in New Zealand, alongside Norway, Switzerland and the Philippines.

Norway is one of the teams that made it out of the group stage in 2019, and I expect much of the same with them likely topping this group.

Runner up in this group is difficult, but it’s hard to bet against the hosts New Zealand making it out of the group just ahead of Switzerland in third while the Philippines rounds out the group.

Group B should be interesting top to bottom.

Canada is one of those teams that has ranked near the top for a long time, and I feel they will get out of this group with ease.

Again, it is hard to bet against the hosts Australia, which is ranked in the top 10, but I have a sneaky feeling that Ireland will leapfrog into the second position.

Australia will come third and Nigeria will round out the group.

Group C has two obvious favorites at the top, and one of them has experienced significantly more turmoil in recent years — Spain.

Spain has had players not committing to the national team due to managerial issues, and that has affected the squad in many ways.

Despite those issues I feel they will get out of the group, but in second place.

That will be behind the one time World Cup winners Japan, which will secure top spot while Zambia will finish third and Costa Rica fourth.

England should cruise in its group, while China and Denmark battle for second.

I think China will sneak out in second place, while Denmark takes third on goal difference and then Haiti rounds out the group in fourth.

Group E has the United States, which does not have an easy group.

I believe they will still come out on top, but the other three countries in this group are no pushovers with all of them in the top 32 teams.

The Netherlands should come out in second after they were the other finalist in 2019, just ahead of Vietnam in third and Portugal in fourth.

France and Brazil should cruise, and the top spot will depend on which one wins their matchup, but I feel Brazil will be slightly more motivated and come out on top.

Jamaica and Panama are interchangeable in third and fourth, and I think Panama will take third.

Sweden is one of the top teams in the world, and should win group G.

Italy and Argentina will be in a tight battle, but I feel Argentina will come out just ahead while Italy comes third ahead of South Africa.

Germany should top group H, ahead of Colombia in second while South Korea takes third and Morocco rounds out the standings in the group stages.

KNOCKOUT ROUNDS

Starting out the matchups will be Norway against Spain, and I feel as if Spain’s problems will be too much to overcome after the group stage and Norway will advance through to the quarterfinals.

Staying in that quarterfinal matchup would be the United States against Argentina, and the USA should cruise through to a Norway matchup.

Next would be Japan against the hosts New Zealand, and I could definitely see an upset happening here.

However, Japan has been such a strong contender for over a decade now and I feel they get through and all the hosts will be gone before the quarterfinals.

Sweden would then take on the Netherlands in a huge matchup, and I feel that Sweden would get by in potentially a shootout to take on Japan.

The bottom half of the bracket looks much easier, with Canada taking on China in the Round of 16.

Canada should cruise by, to take on the winner of Brazil and Colombia.

I feel as if Brazil will win the South American battle, to set up a battle of legends between Christine Sinclair and Marta who will both be playing in their sixth and final World Cups.

England would then take on Ireland in a battle of the isles, and England should cruise by into the quarters.

Meeting up with them would be the winner of Germany and France, and I feel as if Germany will get past to set up a top four matchup in the quarters.

Heading back to the top of the quarters between Norway and the USA — while I feel like the United States will squeeze by into the semifinals.

Japan will take a tumble against Sweden, setting up a key matchup between the USA and Sweden.

Brazil feels like it should be their time to take a title home, and I feel like they will get past Canada to reach the semifinals.

In the other quarterfinals I think that England will outlast Germany and reach the semifinals for the third straight World Cup.

I think that the USA will defeat Sweden in the semifinals and reach their fourth straight final, and will take on England which is the most recent European champion.

I think Sweden will win its second straight third place match, defeating Germany.

As cool as I think it would be for the United States to win its third straight World Cup, I think the road will end in the finals or sooner as the women’s game is starting to catch up.

England will win its second major final ever and the second year in a row, ending the USA’s reign at the top.

If you are wanting to watch these games you must be committed, as they’ll be aired at 6 a.m. Mountain Time at the latest and will begin as early as 7 p.m. the night before due to the 16-18 hour time difference.

This should be a fun World Cup as the women’s game continues to grow, and the interest hopefully continues to grow in the United States heading into a long stretch of important tournaments in this country over the next six years.