By Juhi Shah
The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 starts tomorrow. Unless you’re an Indian who follows women’s football or reads FIFA news, it’s unlikely that you’ll know much about it. And it doesn’t help that it won’t be aired on Indian television.
That’s why I’m on my way to Canada, where the World Cup is being hosted, to watch it in person.
I love football – I play the game when there are matches back home, I train as a referee and officiate matches every now and then, and I’ve studied for an MBA in Sports Business Management. All this only so that I can continue playing and supporting the sport I love the most. I also run the Facebook page Indian Women’s Football Team – an unofficial page that provides insight into what’s happening with women’s football all across India, with respect to tournaments, selections, and the national team’s training camps. There, you’ll also find updates on women’s football from around the world.
[metaslider id=7149] The ghost of World Cups past
There have been six FIFA Women’s World Cups till date. The first was in 1991, hosted in China (the men’s first World Cup was held in 1930, in Uruguay). There were only 12 teams at the time – this went up to 16 during the 1999 World Cup in the USA, and this year, there’ll be as many as 24 teams taking part.
| Year | Host Country | Winner | Runner Up | 3rd Place |
| 1991 | China | USA | Norway | Sweden |
| 1995 | Sweden | Norway | Germany | USA |
| 1999 | USA | USA | China PR | Brazil |
| 2003 | USA | Germany | Sweden | USA |
| 2007 | China | Germany | Brazil | USA |
| 2011 | Germany | Japan | USA | Sweden |
(Source: Wikipedia)
I remember staying up at home to watch the last Women’s World Cup in 2011 with three others – Durva Vahia (an ace player and coach from Mumbai, with whom I’ve been playing football for over 13 years ever since our school days), Maymol Rocky (current Head Coach for the India U-16 and U-14 girls’ football teams, who in 2011 was down for an instructor’s course) and my sister, who is also a footballer (and currently works in the USA for a women’s football team: the Chicago Red Stars, which plays in the National Women’s Soccer League). We watched the match late at night, streaming the game online despite it being at a really slow speed. But it was all worth the effort.
That year, it was Japan vs USA in the finals. Japan’s speed and ball control made it a deeply interesting game to watch. After 90 minutes, the score was tied 1-1. During Extra Time, USA took the lead, but Japan equalized at the last minute, taking the match into penalties, where they came out on top: 3-1. Japan was the first Asian team to ever win a FIFA World Cup in both men’s and women’s football – a superb landmark.
What to look out for this World Cup
The 7th FIFA Women’s World Cup will be hosted in Canada from June 6 to July 5, in six host cities. With the increase in the number of teams to 24, the competition is also expected to increase. The lowest ranked team is Cote D’Ivoire, which is currently at No. 67 in the FIFA Women’s Ranking. Group D, which consists of USA, Sweden, Australia and Nigeria, is the deadliest group, as it has some of the strongest teams in the competition. Teams likes Germany, Brazil, Japan, USA, Canada, and England (all ranked in the top 10 – Germany is No. 1) have been in full preparation and are expected to showcase some of the best talent they have got. (India, by the way, is ranked 55, but is not playing this year.)
To me, every game in the 2015 World Cup is important (here’s the detailed schedule). But if I had to list the matches I wouldn’t want to miss at all, then here they are:
- Canada vs China – June 6
- Nigeria vs Sweden – June 8
- USA vs Australia – June 8
- Brazil vs South Korea – June 9
- Germany vs Norway – June 11
- USA vs Sweden – June 12
- England vs Mexico – June 13
- Mexico vs France – June 17
I support the USA in the Women’s World Cup, so I really want them to qualify for the Finals. Abby Wambach is a player I idolize – her commitment on and off her field has got her to where she is today.
She’s one of the leading scorers in international women’s football, and she’s scored 13 goals in all the FIFA WWC tournaments she’s played, just behind Marta (Brazil) and Birgit Prinz (Germany) who have 14 goals to their name.
The end of this World Cup will be a sad one as many great players are expected to retire, such as Wambach, Karina Leblanc (Canada) and Christine Sinclair (Canada).
This year, the matches will be tough – they’re being played on artificial turf, unlike the men’s matches which are only played on natural grass. Among the drawbacks of artificial turf is the risk of injury: players will have to think twice before even attempting a slide tackle. Several players filed a case against FIFA and a company even came forward offering to install natural grass in these stadiums at their cost, but FIFA refused to look into the matter, and the case was dropped earlier this year.
Despite these crucial aspects, I’m thrilled to be able to watch the World Cup this year – after all, it only comes around once every four years. And I’ll be at the Semi-Finals in Edmonton and the Final in Vancouver. For me, that’s a dream come true.
Juhi Shah is an MBA graduate who is passionate about women’s football in India and around the world. She is a football player as well as a qualified referee. She hopes to help the Indian Women’s Football Team gain recognition and make a mark for itself in the global arena.