The US may be the favorites, but who could prevent them from winning back to back?

France 2019 — the stage is set for FIFA Women’s World Cup; 24 teams gear up to lead their nations to world cup glory. The US come into the tournament as the team to beat. USA National Women’s Soccer team have become synonymous with world-class football, winning the World Cup a record three times since its inception in 1991. The US are deadly opponents, they play with rigor, determination, and with the intention of dominating the game, which has set them apart as the best team in the world over time.

This World Cup is set to deliver high-level performances not only from the US but from the other teams on the roster. The major competition for the US comes from England, France, Germany and Japan who have all recorded standout performances in the leading up to the 2019 FIFA World Cup, putting them among the favorites to win the title and dethrone the US women from their long-held position as the best team in the world.

Home field advantage—France

Host nation France has a legitimate chance to claim the title and replicate what the French men’s team did in Russia which was nothing short of magnificent. The stage is set for French women’s team to make history and follow the men’s team to keep the title in France come June. France’s squad is made up of talented and experienced players. Les Bleues will be banking on the expertise of Lyon forward and captain Eugénie Le Sommer who has scored 250 goals for her club and 74 for the French national team, to lead the team to their first World Cup title. France have a moral advantage in that as the host nation, they will have the support of large crowds at their games which will give the team the momentum and confidence that will have an impact of their performance on the field. Home ground advantage is powerful, Russia made the most of it last year; when most wouldn’t have predicted such an outstanding performance from the Russians, they put one of the most  memorable performances of the tournament, even eliminating the acclaimed Spaniards.

Coming from a major victory—England

England is the birthplace of football, yet both the women’s and men’s teams have not been successful in translating that legacy into the modern game by claiming the title of world champions. This could be the year that the title of world champions finds its way to England. They do not possess the same decorated world cup history as the US but the Lionesses made a case for their title chances when they won the SheBelieves tournament in March 2019, beating Japan 3-0 in the cup final. Having been grouped together with Argentina, Japan and Scotland, England has a tough challenge ahead, however, they remain favorites to progress to the knockout stage along with Japan. Still riding on the momentum from the win, the Lionesses come into this World Cup with newfound confidence and verve that if combined with the right tactical strategy from coach Phil Neville, they could have an edge in the group stages and in the knockout rounds.

The tactical advantage — Germany

Germany are eight-time European champions and two-time world cup winners. In the qualifying campaign for France 2019, Germany scored 35 goals and conceded only 3 times. Die Nationalelf are ranked second behind the US coming into the tournament and are the second most obvious contender for the world cup despite not having won the title since 2007. The Germans should progress with ease from the group stages where they face much lower ranked teams - China, Spain and newcomers South Africa.

Germany is a holistic team— they are both defensively tight and masters at creating and converting chances into goals. In 2015 they finished as the top goal-scoring team with 20 goals followed by the US who managed 14 goals. The US and Germany are always the top two teams on the FIFA rankings, alternating for the number 1 spot. The qualifiers have shown that the German machine is on form and delivering in the accuracy and organisation that they have come to be known for.

Two-time finalists — Japan

After appearing in two consecutive World Cup finals in 2011 and 2015, winning in 2011, Japan cannot be left out of this list. They are very familiar with the world cup stage and always leave it all on the field even as they demonstrated in the 2011 and 2015 finals. In 2018 they secured a second AFC Women's Asian Cup against Australia.  Japan has a solid record in the World Cup which they will be looking to extend by becoming the first team to be in three consecutive finals.  

Japan has a young and talented squad led by Lyon defender Saki Kumagai whose performance this past season earned her a nomination for BBC’s Player of the Year alongside teammate Ada Hegerberg. In March, Japan beat out Brazil and USA to make to the SheBelieves Cup final, despite missing key players like Sakaguchi Mizuho and Miyake Shiori who had to sit out due to injuries. Japan will face England in the group stages as well as Scotland and Argentina, a tough challenge but may not be a roadblock for Nadeshiko.

The US football team embodies what it means to dominate a sport through and through, they have the trophies to prove it. England, France, Japan and Germany have the World Cup experience and track records that make them all worthy title contenders. Will the US add a fourth world cup title and extend their reign as the most decorated football team in world cup history? — All will be decided in France.

FT World Cup 2018: Senegal's Tournament in Review

The best African team of the Tournament denied a knockout spot due to the controversial tiebreaker

Here at FirstTouch, we predicted Senegal would have a good tournament. As reported by Dennis Takaendesa, Aliou Cisse's men were well coached and well prepared to make a statement at the World Cup 2018 similar to the Senegalese team from 2002, but they just fell short of their knockout round goal. They did, however, play a brave and tactically effective brand of football that can and should be a blueprint for their fellow African representatives at future tournaments.

Senegal vs Poland [June 19]

FirstTouch was in Russia to cover this game live from Moscow. Spartak Stadium provided the arena for the Senegalese team to seize their first chance to make an impression on the World Cup 2018 tournament, and they did not disappoint. Cisse organized his team in a 4-4-2 formation to effectively punish a sluggish Polish side that was all too tentative in possession. Sadio Mane provided a consistent attacking spark for his side and his powerful run into the Polish half helped set up the chance for Idrissa Gueye to shot and score from an admittedly fortunate deflection. Senegal had created their own luck, however, and was rewarded towards the end of a good first half. The game shifted in the second half with Poland chasing the match and Senegal sitting slightly deeper to defend and then counterattack. In games so tightly contested, opportunities to score are at a premium and Niang took advantage of a poor back pass from Poland's Krychowiak to score the second goal of the match. Krychowiak, however, was able to make amends for his mistake, although it proved too little too late when he scored a well-directed header from a Polish set piece towards the end of the match. Senegal was able to see out the rest of the match and effectively limit the impact of one of the world's top strikers in Robert Lewandowski. This first victory represented an important and symbolic result similar to the 1-0 victory against France that Cisse led his Senegalese side to achieve, but also represented the first victory for an African nation at the World Cup. 

Senegal vs Japan [June 24]

With an all-important three points from the first game, Senegal just needed a result in their second match against Japan to stay in contention for a knockout round spot in Group H. However, the same level of organization and focus in important moments would be required to achieve success against a Japanese side that also won three points from their first game. Sadio Mane helped Senegal have a strong start with an 11th-minute goal, but that early goal was canceled out in the 35th minute by a Japanese goal from Inui. In a first half littered with chances for both sides, 1-1 was a scoreline that betrayed the amount of attacking football that was on display. Inui proved a constant threat for Senegal throughout the game and especially in the second half. However, Senegal was able to retake the lead with a second goal from Wague. The lead did not last long enough because a crucial moment in the game did not produce enough focus from Senegal's goalkeeper, and N'Diaye did not properly deal with a cross that Keisuke Honda was able to capitalize on and bring Japan level. Although one point was a result that kept Senegal's knockout chances very much alive, it was in hindsight an opportunity missed getting all three points. 

Senegal vs Colombia [June 28]

With four points heading into their final Group H matchup against Colombia, Senegal's destiny was not completely in their own hands and the points dropped against Japan came back to haunt them. This last match pitted Mane's men against a Colombia side attempting to create their own path into the knockout rounds and that had just comprehensively beaten Poland 3-0. Senegal started strong again, creating a number of chances that they should have capitalized on, and VAR was used to overturn a penalty awarded to Sadio Mane after a last-ditch tackle from Davidson Sanchez. The game grew tenser as it progressed with fewer chances being created. Poland assuming a 1-0 lead against Japan meant that both Senegal and Colombia would have gone through with a tie, however, Yerry Mina's header from a 74th-minute corner kick meant that Senegal had to chase the game. Their efforts bore nothing by the end of the game and this represented Senegal's first loss in a group stage game of the World Cup. This loss also meant that a tiebreaker was needed to separate Senegal and Japan. FIFA's new tiebreaker is based upon a 'fair play' ranking that keeps track of a teams' yellow and red cards. Such a tiebreaker has been deemed by many experts and fans as wildly inefficient, especially when watching the end of both games. Japan was more than happy to keep possession between their defenders and Poland, with nothing left to play for, saw little need in pressing them to retrieve the ball and score the second goal. Senegal, unfortunately, were made to chase the game due to another lapse in focus during a set piece. Yellow and red cards are not a measure of a team's success nor should be a deciding factor in a tournament with such differing standards in referee judgments. Senegal should feel hard done by such a tiebreaker, but ultimately, it was two decisive moments where a lapse in focus in each moment cost them a spot in the knockout stages. With that 1-0 loss to Colombia, it meant that for the first time in 36 years there would be zero African nations in the Round of 16 at a World Cup. 

Lessons Learned

1. An organized game plan and tactical flexibility is great until it is all undone by lapses in focus

2. Senegal must continue to improve, but already have a solid group of talented players led by Sadio Mane and coach, Aliou Cisse

3. Can Senegal play this well at AFCON 2019 next summer? They must certainly improve their goal-scoring ability to do so. 

Evaluation

Senegal was the best African team at the World Cup 2018 but still came up short due to lapses in focus during crucial moments. In a Group H that was there for the taking, Senegal should not have allowed themselves to be eliminated by a senseless tiebreaker. However, Aliou Cisse did provide a blueprint for the other African nations looking to perform in future World Cup tournaments. Tactical flexibility coupled with an organized team structure can help all African teams close the gap on the rest of the world. Perhaps, the fact that Cisse was a former player and was able to inspire and demand the respect of his team since he had led Senegal to the Round of 16 as a player also played a part in the overall team cohesiveness that was certainly missing from some of the other African nations. 

Critical Issue

Unfortunately, this seems to be a consistent issue with not just African teams, but all teams throughout the world and that is solid goalkeeper play. A better goalkeeper would have certainly meant a different fate for Senegal, but also a sharper focus during set-pieces and other critical moments during the match. 

FT World Cup 2018: Senegal were so close but yet so far

Africa are out of the 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament. Shocking right? Many experts and coaches from all over the world predicted that African teams would do better in the competition this time around, but they were left disappointed. Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho are just two of the many experts that shared in this pre-tournament belief. But how exactly did Senegal let the chance slip through their fingers in the final match? Here’s how.

In the first two matches, we did not see the captain of the team, Cheikhou Kouyate in the starting XI as well as the boy wonder, Keita Balde Diao on one of the flanks. Coach Aliou Cisse decided to change things up and accommodate the two players in a compact 4-4-2 formation against Colombia on June 28. Mane, who was playing up front with Niang, got an opportunity to score but lost the ball in the penalty box to Yerry Mina. VAR was used, and it adjudged that Mina committed a legal tackle. The Senegalese team were dangerous on the break but failed to score. A second-best Colombia team was unfortunate to lose James Rodriguez to injury, and they replaced him with an attacker, Muriel. Yerry MIna later proved again decisive as he stunned Senegal when he rose above the defenders to head in the game-winning goal on the 74th minute. Senegal now needed a goal to secure their place in the Round of 16 with Japan losing 1-0 to Poland. They fought, but could not score past Ospina. The match ended 1-0 and Senegal were level on points with Japan. They scored the same number of goals and conceded the same in the group stage. The two teams could not be separated by the head-to-head fixture either as it ended in a draw. For the first time in the tournament, a team was eliminated based on the number of yellow cards they picked up in the tournament. Senegal finished 3rd in the group, and it must be heartbreaking to bow out like that.

This means that the journey for the 5 African teams has ended in the group stage. Better luck next time, Africa.

FT World Cup 2018: Africa Has Arrived - Senegal

In the history of the FIFA World Cup, no African team has ever reached the semi-finals. Ghana was agonizingly close in South Africa 2010 but crashed out after Luis Suarez’s heroics in goal, in place for a goalkeeper who was still in the game. Senegal’s Lions of Teranga had a great run in the 2002 finals before losing to Turkey, 1-0 after extra time. Can this year be a historical one for Africa?

What about the Senegalese in Group H? Will they repeat the heroics of 2002 under the mentorship of Aliou Cisse who was actually part of the South Korea and Japan 2002 squad or maybe even go further? My answer is yes, a very big YES! The Lions of Teranga do not play the most fluid of football but can be a neatly organized defensive unit comprising of the English Premier League’s second-best tackler, Idrissa Gueye and the mountain man, Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly leading the defense. They are also blessed with clinical attackers in the form of Diafra Sakho, Monaco’s Keita Balde and the X-factor, Sadio Mane. Most soccer fans witnessed what he did in the UEFA Champions League against Real Madrid. The Liverpool forward took the game in his hands after Mohamed Salah was forced out with an unfortunate early injury, and he scored a beautiful goal that gave the Reds some short-lived hope of lifting the trophy and consistently caused Sergio Ramos and his defense all sorts of problems until the 90th minute.

I am confident that Sadio Mane will step up as he always does and inspire Senegal to a win over lowly ranked Japan, an inexperienced Poland and maybe just fall short to unpredictable Colombia. It may be a bit of a gamble to endorse Senegal's chances so strongly, but i have a feeling that they will be a strong representative for the African continent. Sadio Mane is perhaps enough of an inspiring player that has provided the quality and lends evidence to consider Senegal doing the unexpected. It is a group centered around three star players in particular; Liverpool’s Sadio Mane vs Bayern Munich’s James Rodriguez vs Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski.. No offense to Japan.

Here are my predictions for Group H final standings:

Senegal (1st); Colombia (2nd); Poland (3rd); Japan (4th)

What are your predictions? Let us know in the comment box below.