The World Cup this year in Australia and New Zealand is set to be an amazing one, as there are many teams that have good shots at winning the tournament. Here are the 10 teams that have the best chances to win the trophy this year.
10. Brazil
Brazil have been carried by one of the best soccer players of all time, Marta, in their last tries for the World Cup, but now, with her status on the team dropping due to her age and bad form, she will no longer be able to help this team to victory. Instead Marta will have to pass the baton to younger players on the team like North Carolina Courage player Kerolin and Barcelona’s Geyse, two young forwards who have been dominating for their clubs and may be able to take the next step of leading Brazil.
9. Australia
Australia, similar to Brazil are often led by one player, but unlike Marta, Sam Kerr is in the form of her life, she won the Asia cup golden boot for Australia and won the FA Cup final 3-0 for Chelsea, scoring twice and getting one assist in that match against Arsenal. Apart from Kerr, Australia will have one other major advantage, and that is home field advantage, which they will be sharing with New Zealand, which can be huge for their stars. If everything goes to plan for Australia, Kerr can be lifting a trophy by the end of August.
8. France
France’s strong point is their defense, which is one of the best in the world, mainly thanks to Wendie Renard, the best defender in women’s soccer. But to win a tournament such as the World Cup they will need to improve their offense, as other than Wendie Renard’s prowess on corners and the midfield abilities of Marie-Antoinette Katoto, their offense is lacking, as it is not good enough to get them past the the 7 higher ranked teams on this list.
7. Canada
If this list was made before June of 2021 Canada wouldn’t even be on this list, but instead they come in at number 7 because they won the Olympic gold medal in soccer. The Canadians overcame Brazil in penalties, USA in regular time, and Sweden in penalties in the final. Since then, the Canadians have also moved up the World Ranking, getting to 6th after the Olympics, the Canada team was able to pull off an incredible upset then and it wouldn’t be too outlandish for them to do it again.
6. Netherlands
The runners up in the 2019 World Cup and the winners of the 2017 Euros rose out of obscurity all the way to 8th on the FIFA World Ranking which is very good for a country whose first Women's World Cup appearance was in 2015. The Dutch team have an intense attacking threat led by Arsenal forward Vivianne Miedema, and that may get them as far as they did last time or even to the trophy, as Miedema has developed much as a player since 2019 to become one of the best forwards in Women’s soccer.
5. Sweden
Sweden are ranked 3rd in the Fifa World Rankings but they don’t have much to show for it recently except for two silver medals in the last two olympics and a third place world cup finish in 2019 and 2011. This World Cup could be Sweden’s first big piece of silverware since the 1984 Euros and if they play the way that they did in the last olympics, they still have a chance to win it. But they will still need more consistency, although with a team full of amazing players, you can’t count Sweden out.
4. Spain
Spain has had bad luck when it has come to women’s soccer recently, after drawing the USA in the last World Cup’s Round of 16 and having their best player injured right before the Euros. But failure won’t happen to them this time as long as Alexia Putellas, who has won the last two Ballon d’Or Féminins stays healthy and continues her amazing form.
3. Germany
After barely losing the Euro final, Germany and their star player Alex Popp will be looking for revenge this time around and they will be making an attempt to get the silverware. Even though the Germans haven't made it to the final since 2007, they are still looking strong candidates to win it all, having recently beaten former champs USA 2-1 in a friendly.
2. England
The winner’s of last year’s Euros are strong favorites to make it to the finals for the first time in their history and possibly to even lift the trophy. The Lionesses’ flowing play that leads to goals, especially by their world class striker Beth Mead, is the greatest in the world and could lead to them surpassing their 4th place spot that they earned in 2019.
1. USA
If the USWNT wins the World Cup again this year, they will be the first team to win 3 World Cup’s in a row in the women’s or men’s competition. The USA is expected to win again this year because of their recent dominance in the World Cup and because of the scoring threat they pose with players like Alex Morgan, Rose Lavelle, and Megan Rapinoe.
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