FIFA Women's World Cup: USA to open title defense on Saturday vs. Vietnam
Jul. 20—FIFA Women's World Cup: USA to open play vs. Vietnam on Saturday
The United States will begin its quest to defend its FIFA Women's World Cup championship on Saturday by facing Vietnam in Group E play of the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup.
For the first time, two countries, Australia and New Zealand, are sharing host duties.
The matches will take place in10 stadiums that are located in nine cities. Australian cities that will host matches include: Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Auckland, Dunedin, Hamilton and Wellington are New Zealand's host cities.
The 32 teams that have qualified for the event will be divided into eight groups, with the top=two clubs in each group advancing to the knockout round.
Other teams in Group E besides the USA and Vietnam are Netherlands and Portugal.
Group A is filled with New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines and Switzerland while Group B members are Australia, Republic of Ireland, Nigeria and Canada.
In Group C, Spain Costa Rico, Zambia and Japan will do battle while Group D has England, Denmark, China and Haiti.
France, Jamaica, Brazil and Panama are slotted in Group F, with Group G containing Sweden, South Africa, Italy and Argentina.
In Group H are Germany, Morocco, Columbia and South Korea.
The USA defeated Netherlands to win the last World Cup, which took place in France in 2019.
The FIFA Women's World Cup will begin with a match featuring New Zealand and Norway on Thursday.
Team USA's other group affairs are versus Netherlands on July 27 and an Aug. 1 date with Portugal.
The Round of 16 is set to commence on August 5.
