This summer’s Women’s World Cup

Hunter Rosenberg, Staff Writer

This summer, soccer fans around the world are looking forward to the women’s World Cup taking place in Australia and New Zealand. This will be the first time in women’s World Cup history that the tournament will be held in two separate countries. It will take place over a 32 day span, starting July 20, and ending August 20. The first game will be held in Sydney, Australia at Accor Stadium.

With issues surrounding the team’s coach, speculation has rose over how the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) will do in the tournament. They are going into the tournament as defending champions, just like they did in 2019.

The team has won the past two World Cups under the coaching of Jill Ellis, first hired in 2014. After Ellis took the position of head coach, the team’s performance majorly improved, winning many awards including two world titles, three CONCACAF Cup titles and high placement in the Olympics. Ellis stepped down from the position in July of 2019 after winning her second consecutive World Cup.

The United States will have their first game on July 21 against Vietnam. They faced a lot of criticism after their first game in the 2019 World Cup, many fans finding they’re celebrations excessive. Much of the criticism came after They faced Thailand where they won 13-0, setting a new record for most goals scored in a World Cup game. Five of these goals came from team captain Alex Morgan, who continued to receive criticism late in the tournament after her goal celebration against England where she pretended to drink from a teacup.

Although there was a lot of criticism towards the USWNT, they fought through and plan to continue that this summer.