Last time out we introduced the 2020 Women's Draft World Cup, and introduced the 21 teams that make up this year's event.
As 21 is not really a good number for a tournament, we are having a qualifying round to eliminate 5 teams to leave us with a classic tournament number of 16 teams.
The format for qualifying is nice and simple:
The teams are roughly seeded based on past performances and the quality of players in their squads, and these are the five qualification groups:
As 21 is not really a good number for a tournament, we are having a qualifying round to eliminate 5 teams to leave us with a classic tournament number of 16 teams.
The format for qualifying is nice and simple:
- One team receive a bye to the finals - the defending champions, Germany
- The remaining 20 teams are split into 5 groups of 4
- The top 3 in each group qualify for the finals, the bottom team are eliminated
The teams are roughly seeded based on past performances and the quality of players in their squads, and these are the five qualification groups:
So we'll go through these five groups today, quickly outlining what happened. At the end we'll do the draw for the finals themselves.
Group A (Spain, Denmark, Scotland, North Europe)
Denmark's solid defence earned them a draw with top seeds Spain in their opener, but it also saw them draw with bottom seeds North Europe. Meanwhile, Scotland started off on a flier, beating both North Europe and Spain by two goals.
Wins for Spain and Scotland meant that this group was a battle for qualification between Denmark and North Europe. Crucially, on the fourth match day Spain ran riot against the Danes, scoring 5 unanswered goals, whilst Scotland crashed to a 4-1 defeat to North Europe.
This left Denmark really needing a win when they took on North Europe, but they could only tie 2-2, as did Scotland and Spain. Spain beat North Europe in the final round of fixtures, which left the door open for Denmark to come back, but they went down 2-1 to Scotland.
Group A (Spain, Denmark, Scotland, North Europe)
Denmark's solid defence earned them a draw with top seeds Spain in their opener, but it also saw them draw with bottom seeds North Europe. Meanwhile, Scotland started off on a flier, beating both North Europe and Spain by two goals.
Wins for Spain and Scotland meant that this group was a battle for qualification between Denmark and North Europe. Crucially, on the fourth match day Spain ran riot against the Danes, scoring 5 unanswered goals, whilst Scotland crashed to a 4-1 defeat to North Europe.
This left Denmark really needing a win when they took on North Europe, but they could only tie 2-2, as did Scotland and Spain. Spain beat North Europe in the final round of fixtures, which left the door open for Denmark to come back, but they went down 2-1 to Scotland.
Group B (France, Norway, South Europe, Northern Ireland)
There wasn't much jeopardy in this group, as Northern Ireland went on to lose all 6 matches to finish bottom of the group and see the other three teams through. Lowlights were losing 6-0 and 9-0 to France (Ada Hegerberg with a hat trick in both) and 6-0 to South Europe.
This effectively left the remaining three teams in a battle for position. The first match between each side finished 1-1, leaving them all unbeaten at the halfway stage.
Norway were the first to lose, falling 1-0 to France. Isabell Herlovson's hat trick saw them bounce back with a 3-1 win over South Europe, who lost 3-0 to France in their final game to finish 3rd and see the 2018 WDWC champions top the group as expected.
There wasn't much jeopardy in this group, as Northern Ireland went on to lose all 6 matches to finish bottom of the group and see the other three teams through. Lowlights were losing 6-0 and 9-0 to France (Ada Hegerberg with a hat trick in both) and 6-0 to South Europe.
This effectively left the remaining three teams in a battle for position. The first match between each side finished 1-1, leaving them all unbeaten at the halfway stage.
Norway were the first to lose, falling 1-0 to France. Isabell Herlovson's hat trick saw them bounce back with a 3-1 win over South Europe, who lost 3-0 to France in their final game to finish 3rd and see the 2018 WDWC champions top the group as expected.
Group C (USA, Netherlands, Rest of World, Ireland)
Could Ireland do better than their northern counterparts? In short, no. They also lost all 6 games, although they were slightly better at restricting opponents, as their heaviest defeat was 5-0 to Netherlands, and 4-0 to the other two.
USA are, once again, favourites for the whole tournament this year. But they were given a small scare as Rest of World's comeback fell short in their opening-day clash, USA held on to win 3-2. They weren't as lucky against Netherlands, as they went down 2-0. With Netherlands beating Rest of World 4-0, they pulled clear of USA.
USA's comeback started with Alex Morgan's hat trick seeing them 5-1 victors over Rest of World. Rest of World ended Netherlands' 100% record with a 2-1 win, and it meant USA and Netherlands were level ahead of their final-round clash. Whilst Netherlands took an early lead, they couldn't hold out and USA won 3-1 to top the group somewhat unconvincingly.
Could Ireland do better than their northern counterparts? In short, no. They also lost all 6 games, although they were slightly better at restricting opponents, as their heaviest defeat was 5-0 to Netherlands, and 4-0 to the other two.
USA are, once again, favourites for the whole tournament this year. But they were given a small scare as Rest of World's comeback fell short in their opening-day clash, USA held on to win 3-2. They weren't as lucky against Netherlands, as they went down 2-0. With Netherlands beating Rest of World 4-0, they pulled clear of USA.
USA's comeback started with Alex Morgan's hat trick seeing them 5-1 victors over Rest of World. Rest of World ended Netherlands' 100% record with a 2-1 win, and it meant USA and Netherlands were level ahead of their final-round clash. Whilst Netherlands took an early lead, they couldn't hold out and USA won 3-1 to top the group somewhat unconvincingly.
Group D (England, Brazil, Australia, Switzerland)
On paper, this appears to be a pretty tough one, an impression confirmed when both opening matches ended with scoreless draws - between Australia & England and Brazil & Switzerland. However, this was the only hitch for England, who won their other 5 games to qualify easily.
That meant all points between the other three were crucial. Brazil beat Australia 3-0, and a 0-0 draw between Australia and Switzerland left those two teams tied on points and goals halfway in.
Switzerland took a huge step towards qualification in their next game with a 1-0 win over Brazil. The South Americans recovered to beat Australia by the same scoreline, securing their own qualification. It meant that it came down to the final game. Australia had to beat Switzerland by two goals to go through. Natasha Dowie's penalty gave them their first, and a wonderful curling effort by Kyah Simon earned them the 2-0 win they needed to pip Switzerland on the line!
On paper, this appears to be a pretty tough one, an impression confirmed when both opening matches ended with scoreless draws - between Australia & England and Brazil & Switzerland. However, this was the only hitch for England, who won their other 5 games to qualify easily.
That meant all points between the other three were crucial. Brazil beat Australia 3-0, and a 0-0 draw between Australia and Switzerland left those two teams tied on points and goals halfway in.
Switzerland took a huge step towards qualification in their next game with a 1-0 win over Brazil. The South Americans recovered to beat Australia by the same scoreline, securing their own qualification. It meant that it came down to the final game. Australia had to beat Switzerland by two goals to go through. Natasha Dowie's penalty gave them their first, and a wonderful curling effort by Kyah Simon earned them the 2-0 win they needed to pip Switzerland on the line!
Group E (Italy, Sweden, Americas, Wales)
The draw is good news for the top three seeds in this group, as Wales are significantly the weakest team in this year's WDWC qualifying. The minnows started encouragingly, as they only lost 1-0 to Italy, through an Andressa Alves penalty. However, they lost 7-0 to Sweden in their next game, and went on to lose their other four games as well.
In the battle for position between the other three sides, Sweden lost to both Americas and Italy, whilst the latter beat the former to lead halfway in.
Sweden overcame Americas 2-0 to bounce back into contention. Italy secured top spot as they beat Americas - also 2-0 - but fell to defeat in their final game, losing 2-1 to Sweden as their opponents sealed 2nd place.
The draw is good news for the top three seeds in this group, as Wales are significantly the weakest team in this year's WDWC qualifying. The minnows started encouragingly, as they only lost 1-0 to Italy, through an Andressa Alves penalty. However, they lost 7-0 to Sweden in their next game, and went on to lose their other four games as well.
In the battle for position between the other three sides, Sweden lost to both Americas and Italy, whilst the latter beat the former to lead halfway in.
Sweden overcame Americas 2-0 to bounce back into contention. Italy secured top spot as they beat Americas - also 2-0 - but fell to defeat in their final game, losing 2-1 to Sweden as their opponents sealed 2nd place.
So that's the 15 teams through who join Germany in the WDWC finals. Other than Denmark's collapse in Group A, there were no surprises.
Next time round we'll do the draw for the finals, and preview each group.
Next time round we'll do the draw for the finals, and preview each group.