The women of the USA soccer team had a rough start in 2014, with a seventh place finish at the Algarve Cup, but with an excellent showing at the CONCACAF Women’s Championship 2014, the women of this team asserted their dominance, and claimed a spot to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 In Canada.
After being put into Group D, the USA women had to play Australia on June 8th to begin their journey through the World Cup. After a shaky first half start, the second half of the game was where this team's talent really showed through. Thanks to the two goals made by Megan Rapinoe, the women were able to come out with a victory of 3-1 against the Australian team. With their win against Australia, America has increased their chances from 95 percent to 99 percent to advance from Group D.
Their next match will be against Sweden on June 12th. When America has played Sweden, they have been victorious three times, and have only lost once. The USA has also had nine goals against Sweden, whereas Sweden has had five against the USA. With these stats, America is the favorite to win this match.
Even before America’s game against Australia, America had a 28 percent chance of winning the entire tournament. The other front-runner to win the tournament is Germany, at 31 percent. The big test to see just how good Germany is will be during their game Thursday when they face Norway. If America does advance past Group D like they are supposed to, Germany and America will most likely meet during the semifinals. To get to that spot though, both of these teams still need to continue playing well in order to further distance themselves from the rest of the pack.
As far as the other teams go, as of this morning, Japan now has a nine percent chance of winning the tournament, while France has a seven percent chance, and Brazil has a six percent chance. All of these odds though are up for change after their opening games today.
The USA women’s team is hoping to make it to the championship game, and unlike their 2011 championship game outcome, this year they are looking to bring home the trophy. The United States women’s soccer team has not won the tournament since 1999, but these women seem to be determined this year more than ever, to prove to the world that they deserve to be called the best in the world.
