FRANCE


About
- Nickname(s) : Les Bleues
- Women's World Cup Appearances: 4
- Best Finish: 4th (2001)
- FIFA Ranking: 4 (3rd in Europe)

Introduction
France has been building it's women's football for years on years on years. With parallels to men's team (which are addressed in the P.O.D) combined with being the hosts, is expected to at the very least contest in the final. After building up from the ground up year on year on year, this seems the exact right for them to be hosting the World Cup. They're excellent in every department, with strong centrebacks who can both play out the back, proven and experienced goal scorers up top, technical midfielders, and creative wingers. France has 12 wins in the last 13 matches since the SheBelievesCup (including 3-1 against Brazil, the USA and Japan and 4-0 against Denmark + one defeat against Germany 0-1). Is this the year that France finally puts it all together to become the first ever country to hold both the men's and women's World Cups?


Manager and Squad
- Manager: Corinne Diacre (France)

- Goalkeepers: Sarah BOUHADDI (Olympique Lyonnais), Solène DURAND (EA Guingamp), Pauline PEYRAUD-MAGNIN (Arsenal)

- Defenders: Julie DEBEVER (EA Guingamp), Sakina KARCHAOUI (Montpellier HSC), Amel MAJRI (Olympique Lyonnais), Griedge MBOCK (Olympique Lyonnais), Ève PÉRISSET (Paris Saint-Germain), Wendie RENARD (Olympique Lyonnais), Marion TORRENT (Montpellier HSC), Aïssatou TOUNKARA (Atlético Madrid)

- Midfielders: Charlotte BILBAULT (Paris FC), Élise BUSSAGLIA (Dijon FCO), Maéva CLEMARON (FC Fleury 91), Grace GEYORO (Paris Saint-Germain), Amandine HENRY (Olympique Lyonnais), Gaëtane THINEY (Paris FC)

- Forwards: Viviane ASSEYI (Girondins de Bordeaux), Delphine CASCARINO (Olympique Lyonnais), Kadidiatou DIANI (Paris Saint-Germain), Valérie GAUVIN (Montpellier HSC), Emelyne LAURENT (EA Guingamp), Eugénie LE SOMMER (Olympique Lyonnais)

Possible Starting 11
Bouhaddi
Torrent Renard Mbock Bathy Majri
Bussaglia Henry (C)
Cascarino Thiney Diani
Le Sommer


Players to Watch
- Eugénie Le Sommer (ST):
Le Sommer usually plays up top as the out and out striker and is without a doubt the star attacking player . With 74 goals in 159 caps, Le Sommer is only 7 goals off of being the country's all time top goal scorer. Le Sommer is not simply just some poacher and can score in a multitude of ways , whether with her fox-in-the-box instincts (either her feet or her head), ability to get past defenders with her adept dribbling, or just absolutely lacing one from outside the box, Le Sommer has it all.

- Amandine Henry (DM)
The 29 year old captain has 83 appearances and 11 goals for the national team. With the ability to launch a belter outside the box, Henry is the calm metronome in midfield for France. If you were to compare her to a player it would have to be a prime Sergio Busquets . A very one-touch oriented style of play, Henry uses her calmness and series of fakes and feints to swivel and alleviate pressure with ease. And if she does somehow manage to lose the ball, she's quick and strong to recover and win it back. Quite literally the heart of the midfielder and always in the right spot, Henry will play a key role for France. If they do happen to match up against the USA in the quarterfinal if all goes accepted, her matchup against Julie Ertz should definitely be one to watch out for.

- Wendie Renard (CB)
The former captain, Renard is without a doubt one of the best defenders in the world. At 6'2" (188 cm), Renard is one of the biggest and tallest players at the tournament , which makes a particular threat on set pieces in defence and attack, seen with her 12 goals in 26 matches across the league and Champions League with the oh so dominant Lyon. Though don't be fooled, Renard is not just a French Gareth McAuley, she also provides an excellent Plan B with her pinpoint long balls from the back. If a team happens to be pressuring France extensively, just get to Renard and she'll knock

Points of Discussion
The Seeming Parallels to the Men's Team
Let's look back at the discussion points surrounding the men's team.
- Managed by a former player, Didier Deschamps for the men's and Corinne Diacre for the women, the latter of which became the first woman to manage a men's professional football match , when she took charge of Clermont Foot.
- Absolutely loaded with talent. experience plus up and coming stars
- Left some talent at home to try and fit together players who fit the system, in the case of the men's it was Lacazette and with the women's it's with Division 1 Féminine's top goalscorer Marie-Antoinette Katoto, who had 22 goals in 22 games at only 20 years old
- Haven't made nearly as far as they should have in previous tournaments and have lots of pressure to turn that around this time around, with the women having more pressure being the hosts

Lyon Dominant
If they trot out with the expected XI, seven of their starting XI are a part of the Champions League winning Lyon , who are blessed with stars from across the planet. Since Lyon put money into women's football quite early on, they've seemed to reap the benefits immensely. Lyon have won 13 straight league titles and 4 straight Champions League's. They scored 89 goals and allowed only 6 in 22 matches this season , going 20-2-0 and 62 points, and PSG were still hot on their tail with 57. With a core of players playing with one another week in week out, this is a definite positive heading into the tournament

Their Style of Play
France are no one-dimensional team, being able to attack in a number of ways, with a particular emphasis on attacking the wings and overloading one side to make space in the middle to get to their goal scorers. The left overload is one to be particularly terrified of, as Henry drifts out to the channels to support an overlapping Majri, who is one of the most technically gifted defenders at the tournament, coupled with Diani and Thiney, a combination of very high skilled players that teams will be forced to double up with, leaving the deadly Le Sommer room to manuever in and around the box. Other players to look out for include Amel Majri (LB) , a converted midfielder turned fullback, and with her technical ability making her one of if not the best in her position, Delphine Cascarino (RW) a typical young tricky winger who loves a little stepover or two, and the experienced 33 year old Gaëtane Thiney (AM) , who has 155 caps and 58 goals for Les Blues.

South Korea

About
Nickname(s): Taegeuk Ladies
Appearances : 2
Best Finish : Round of 16 (2015)
FIFA Ranking : 14

Introduction
South Korea women's team played their first international in 1990, when they were unsurprisingly hammered by Japan in what remains their heaviest-ever defeat. Thankfully things have improved since then. In more recent history, they finished runners-up in their group at the 2015 World Cup, behind Brazil but ahead of Costa Rica and Spain; in the Round of 16 they were knocked out by future 2019 opponents France.

Route to the 2019 World Cup
I'm sure there are a few stories in this World Cup of teams qualifying against the odds, but South Korea's may be up there, amid unusual circumstances.

For background, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has 5 spots for the World Cup. Qualification is done via the AFC's regional tournament - the Asian Cup - held every four years, in the year before the World Cup.

That makes qualification for the Asian Cup doubly important - miss out on qualifying for the Asian Cup, and you absolutely won't be going to the World Cup. In the 2017 Asian Cup qualifying, South Korea were the top seeds ahead of the group draw (Japan, Australia, and China were the 1-2-3 of the previous Asian Cup and so did not participate in qualifying). Rather than the standard home and away fixtures, all group games are played in a selected 'host nation' with just 2 or 3 days rest in between games. Only the group winner qualifies for the Asian Cup proper.

South Korea were drawn in a group with North Korea, then ranked #10 in the world, 7 places above them in
the FIFA rankings. To make matters worse, North Korea were the selected host nation and would be playing all
games on home soil. Unlucky to say the least, but how did this happen if South Korea were the top seeds? Following the North Korean doping scandal in 2011, North Korea were banned from participating in the 2015 World Cup, and the 2014 Asian Cup (and qualifying). Because they hadn't taken part in the previous Asian Cup at all, they had the lowest seeding, being drawn from pot 5.

Both North and South Korea won their early group games comfortably. For the probable group-deciding match against each other, I could find exactly two highlights videos, corresponding to the respective North and South Korean broadcasts of the match. The South Korean source has an interesting camera angle but I recommend watching just the start to see the atmosphere created by a few tens of thousand of well-co-ordinated North Korean fans (attendance was reported to be 42,500). The North Korean source is in some ways much better - it has replays, alternate angles, and commentary - but the video quality makes it look like it's from a broadcast in the 90's. If you want to watch this one, the goals are at 29:00 and 51:20. There's also a penalty given and saved starting from 6:00. The match finished 1-1.


Those were the only goals that either Korea would concede, and in the end it was South Korea that topped the group with a goal difference of +20 to North Korea's +17.

In the 2018 Asian Cup South Korea were once again slightly unlucky with their group draw, finding themselves with both Australia and Japan. They drew against both and finished level on points with both, but found themselves in 3rd place based on goal difference and goals scored. Thankfully this was enough to get them to a play-off against Phillipines for that last World Cup spot, whom they dispatched 5-0.

Manager and Squad
The majority of the national team play their club football in the domestic WK League, with two playing in England's WSL and one in Japan. Incheon Red Angels are the dominant force in Korea, having won the past 6 league titles and are on course to make that 7 this season.

The team has a handful of players who were part of the U-17 World Cup winning squad from 2010.

- Manager: Yoon Deok-yeo (South Korea)

- Goalkeepers: Kang Ga-ae (Gumi), Jung Bo-ram (Hwacheon), Kim Min-jeong (Incheon)
Defenders: Kim Hye-ri (Incheon), Shin Dam-yeong (Incheon), Lim Seon-joo (Incheon), Lee Eun-mi (Suwon), Kim Do-yeon (Incheon), Jang Sel-gi (Incheon), Jeong Yeong-a (Gyeonju), Hwang Bo-ram
(Hwacheon)

- Midfielders: Lee Young-ju (Incheon), Kang Yu-mi (Hwacheon), Lee So-dam (Incheon), Moon Mi-ra (Suwon), Cho So-hyun (West Ham), Lee Min-a (INAC Kobe), Kang Chae-rim (Incheon)

- Forwards: Jung Seol-bin (Incheon), Ji So-yun (Chelsea), Lee Geum-min (Gyeonju), Yeo Min-ji
(Suwon), Son Hwa-yeon (Changnyeon)

Players to Watch
- Ji So-yun: Korean prodigy - youngest senior national team debut and goal, both at the age of 15, and highest ever goal scorer (54 in 116 appearances). Unusual in that she did not start her senior club career in Korea, being signed early by INAC Kobe Leonessa. In her 3 years in Japan she won three League titles, and just before leaving for Chelsea she managed to score against them in the final of the International Women's Club Championship (Japan's attempt to get a Club World Cup going). Since moving to England with Chelsea, she has added another few titles to the collection, and is a regular nominee and occasional winner for PFA player of the year. Has excellent dead ball skills and is just generally a class above. Is hugely important to the team - more so than Son Heung-min is to the men's team.

Cho So-hyun: Korea's captain and most capped player ever with 121 appearances. Spent the majority of her career with Incheon in the WK League, but in the past few years has played in Japan, Norway, and signed for West Ham at the start of 2019. Usually plays as DM between the defensive and midfield lines. The coach has sometimes started her in a CB position for extra reliability, but midfield is her natural position.

Points of Discussion
Norway
The main point of discussion is trying to work out how good this South Korean team really is. They didn't actually lose a single game during qualifying, drawing with teams who on paper were much better - North Korea, Australia, and Japan. This has seen their FIFA ranking steadily rise, and I'm not sure if it has settled on its 'true' value yet.

Progressing to the group stage again is the target for this team, and to do that, picking up points against Norway is probably required. To get a win against Norway and take the 2nd spot (barring any other upsets in the group) would be enough to label this World Cup a success. The focus on Norway is evident in their pre-tournament friendlies, as they arranged two matches against Iceland and two against Sweden under the assumption that the Northern European teams will have a similar physicality to their game. In the first game against Iceland, Korea were dominant, and yet lost 3-2 as Iceland scored with their only 3 attempts on goal (to Korea's 22 shots), leading the coach to rather publicly bemoan the state of his goalkeepers and defence. At least in the goalkeeper department, his hand has been forced as veteran keeper Kim Jung-mi suffered an Achilles tendon injury in training.

Future retirements?
This is now just my personal speculation, but the two current stars Ji So-yun and Cho So-hyun are now 28 and 30 respectively, and while they may still play in another World Cup, they also may not. With these two being so important to the team, could this be the peak of this generation of players? A lot of the current core of players are hovering around 26/27 years old, standout fullback Jang Sel-gi (KFA player of the year 2018) is 25. If South Korea won't be fielding a team of 30-year-olds in 4 years time, the team will look very different, and it's not clear who the young rising stars are now.

Norway

About
Appearances : 7 (All Editions)
Best Finish: Champions (1995)
FIFA Ranking: 12

Introduction
Former World and Olympic Champions Norway have fallen from power in the past decade. The team comes to France with big expectations after having qualified for another World Cup in dramatic fashion. The Norwegians left it all to the last match-day and had to earn a hard fought victory over EURO Champions Netherlands to earn automatic qualification.

Manager and Squad
- Manager: Martin Sjogren (Sweden)

- Goalkeepers: Ingrid Hjelmseth (Stabaek), Cecilie Fiskerstrand (LSK), Oda Bogstad (Arna-Bjomar)

- Defenders: Ingrid Wold (LSK), Maria Thorisdottir (Chelsea), Stine Hovland (Sandviken), Maren Mjelde (Chelsea), Cecilie Kvamme (Sandviken)

- Midfielders: Synne Hansen (LSK), Vilde Boe Risa (Kopparbergs), Caroline Hansen (Wolfsburg/Barca), Ingrid Engen (LSK), Guro Reiten (LSK), Kristine Minde (Wolfsburg), Frida Maanum (Linkoping), Karina Saevik (Kolbotn)

- Forwards: Elise Thorsnes (LSK), Isabell Herlovsen (Kotbotn), Lisa-Marie Utland (Rosengard), Therese Asland (LSK), amalie Eikeland (Sandviken), Emilie Haavi (LSK), Emilie Nautnes (Arna-Bjonar)

Players to Watch
- Caroline Graham Hansen: Completing a move to Barcelona just weeks before appearing in her first World Cup, Hansen will be Noway's most important player. The 24 yr old is the full midfield package that can control games, deliver pin point passes and score whenever needed. Ruled out of the 2015 World Cup due to a knee injury, she's back and stronger than ever. Forming a team around this future superstar was one of the headaches Coach Sjogren had this year, but it's a good headache to have.

- Isabell Herlovsen: 30 yr old Herlovsen is a constant goal threat. The brunt of all goals scored will be on Herlovsen's shoulders this summer. Her uncanny sense to be at the right place at the right time has paid dividends, including scoring the winner in the decider against the Netherlands. Her finishing skills will be a major key for Norway's progression.

Points of Discussion
Turning Experience into Results
Norway are no strangers to winning and a realistic goal this year will be to get a medal. High expectations come from a storied past but following in the footsteps of legends proves no easy task. In terms of quality, Norway aren't able to best the top teams, but are certainly best of the rest and managing to utilize all their experience and hunger to put together performances early on versus Nigeria and France in the toughest qualifying group will be important to building momentum for Norway.

Defense
Defense wins championships, and true to the old adage, Norway's defense will be key. Chelsea duo Mjelde and Thorisdóttir are important in the back but Thorisdottir has missed half the season due to injury and may not be fully fit. Mjelde's responsibilities will extend to organizing the midfield during transitions, even more importantly as she herself likes to get forward and score goals. She's scored 19 goals for Norway from the fullback position thus far.

Ada Hedgerberg
The world's best female player Ada Hedgerberg has refused to play for Norway since 2017 (think Messi refusing to play for Argentina), and the current team has done well to step up in her absence. While Hedgerberg has taken headlines this summer due to her stance on the treatment of women's footballers in Norway, the team has to continue doing what they've been doing for the past two years and not let any of the new found media attention affect their performances.

Nigeria

About
Appearances: 7 (All Editions)
Best Finish: Quarter Finals (1999)
FIFA Ranking: 38

Introduction
Nigeria have dominated Africa with 9 out of 11 Women's African Cup of Nations. But turning continental results into intercontinental ones proves tough, they haven't progressed past the group stages since 1999. Their search for more will be toughened by the hardest group in the World Cup with games versus France, Nigeria and Norway proving a major hurdle.

Manager and Squad

- Manager: Thomas Dennerby (Sweden)
Goalkeepers: Tochukwu Oluehi (Rivers Angels), Chiamaka Nnadozie (Rivers Angels), Alaba Jonathan (Bayelsa Queens)

- Defenders: Osinachi Ohale (Vaxjo), Ngozi Ebere (Arna-Bjomar), Onome Ebi (Henan Huishang), Faith Michael (Pitea), Chidinma Okeke (Robo Queens)

- Midfielders: Amarachi Okoronkwo (Nasarawa Amazons), Evelyn Nwabuoku (Rivers Angels), Rita Chikwelu (Kristianstads), Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene (Eskilstuna Utd), Halimatu Ayinde (Eskilstuna Utd), oganna Chukwudi (Djurgarden)

- Forwards: Anam Imo (Rosengard), Asisat Oshoala (Barcelona), Desire oparanozie (Guingamp), Chinaza Uchendu (Braga), Uchenna Kanu (Southeastern Fire), Rasheedat Ajibade (Avaldsnes), Francisca Ordega (Shangai), Chinwendu Ihezuo (Henan Huishang), Alice Ogebe (Rivers Angels)

Players to Watch
Asisat Oshoala: “Superzee” has added Women's African Footballer of the Year award to her title. Three time Women's African Footballer of the year in fact. Her clinical ability in front of goal, raw pace and power put her on the map back in 2014 and now she's leading the line at Barcelona and helping them to their first ever Women's Champions League Final in history.

Onome Ebi: Playing in China hasn't hampered the 36yr old Nigerian. Her game reading and anticipation makes her a striker's nightmare. Add that to her supreme strength and you have a player that can shut down all but the fastest forwards in the game. Ebi will be representing the Super Eagles for the 5th time this summer.

Points of Discussion
Preparation for Tournaments
The Ladies of Nigeria have been underfunded and their tournament preparations have always been the absolute minimum if non existent. They went 2 full years without playing a game from May 2016 to April 2018, months before the next major tournament. They've fixed that issue this time around and have participated in several tournaments, friendlies and training camps that hopefully give them the push they need to defeat the group stage this time around.

Set Pieces and Defensive Gaps
The Nigerians play a high defensive line and leave gaps but yet they only conceded 1 goal the entire AFCON tournament in 2018. Plugging those holes are important but recent friendlies and showings at the Algarve Cup exposed a weakness to set pieces as well. Ebi is 36 yrs old and even though her mind is quick, her feet are not and it will be the responsibility of the midfield to plug the gaps and not allow teams to get the ball to their forwards looking to make run behind.

Quick Transitions
The midfield not only has to cover for gaps but quickly move the ball forward during transitions to the forwards. Nigeria's strengths and speed comes from their star strikers and they'll get the ball at every opportunity. Their top heavy system works when the ball is constantly up the pitch to the final third where their creative offense can shine.