The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup has already begun! It started on June 7 and will end on July 7. Its host nation is France and the tournament will happen in nine different cities. According to FIFA, one month before the Cup started more than 720,000 tickets had already been sold for the competition — exceeding the number sold at this stage in 2015, when the Women’s World Cup took place in Canada. Some matches, such as the opening game between France and South Korea, were sold out.
There are 24 teams in total. South Africa, Chile and Jamaica are the ones joining the event for the first time ever! Japan, Norway, Germany and the USA are the previous winners who are participating again. Take a look at the groups:
The official mascot for the Women’s World Cup 2019 is called Ettie and she’s a young French poussin. Her name comes from the word “étoile”, which means “star” in French. Ettie represents hope and passion for football. FIFA’s Chief Commercial Officer, Philippe Le Floc’h, said that her personality “shines as brightly as her passion for women’s football”.
This year FIFA started a campaign to develop the growth of women’s football around the world. The organization also announced an increase of 100% in the value of the prize that all the teams will receive. But, still, the differences between the male and the female tournaments are enormous. On the Men’s World Cup 2018, in Russia, France received 38 million dollars for the title. The Women’s World Cup 2019 champion will receive 4 million dollars.
For Brazil, the eighth edition of the competition is being historical. The event finally got some of the recognition it deserves and it’s receiving more attention. For the first time in history, Rede Globo — the biggest Brazilian television broadcaster — is going to stream all the matches that Brazil will be playing on the Women’s World Cup. Besides that, the 41-year-old midfielder Formiga will compete on her seventh World Cup. It’s the first time an athlete has disputed seven World Cup editions.
“This is not just about women’s football. It’s about us, women, leaving a footprint. We count on your support to change the mentality so that in the future women’s football is simply known as football” says Fatma Samoura, the first female Secretary General of FIFA.
Stay tuned and make sure you don’t miss the chance to cheer for all these amazing women! Access all the match times here.