The eyes of the football world will turn to Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, which will stage the final draw for the prestigious Women’s World Cup.
According to FIFA.com, Saturday December 6, from 12:00 pm (local time) onwards, in the confines of the Canadian Museum of History, nations competing in the seventh edition of the tournament, which is set to run from 6 June to 5 July 2015, will find out which opponents lie in wait for them next year.
Adding to the intrigue, the four teams that have shared the six previous global crowns between them will all be present in North America. “Canada is a warm and welcoming country, and we look forward to greeting the world’s best female footballers,” Peter Montopoli said, CEO of the National Organising Committee.
In addition, there will be several countries making their tournament bows. Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Costa Rica, Spain, Ecuador, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Nigeria fans are likely to be both nervous and excited at the thought of what the final draw holds in store for them.
“We can’t go to the World Cup to merely add to the numbers, but we’re going there to participate and to prove a point. I can’t say right away how far we’ll go at the World Cup, but I’m positive we won’t disappoint Nigerians when hostilities start in Canada. We have quality and experienced players in our midst who can turn things around,” Asisat Oshoala, Nigeria striker said.
Nigeria have dominated women’s football on the continent since the African Women’s Championship (AWC) was first staged. The Super Falcons have won seven of nine tournaments and the two times they have not won the competition it did not double as a qualifying tournament for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Their overall record at the AWC is a remarkable 36 wins and five draws in 45 matches.
They secured their ticket to Canada by winning the ninth AWC in Namibia in October, winning all five matches they played, scoring 16 goals in the process and conceding just three. They topped their group after comfortable victories against Namibia, Zambia and Côte d’Ivoire, before beating South Africa 2-1 in the semi-finals. In the championship match they secured a 2-0 victory against Cameroon.
The three competitions previously held by the Canadians – the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship 2002, the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2007 and the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2014 – all stood out for their excellent level of organisation.
It believed that the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™, expanded from 16 teams to 24 for the first time, is in good hands.
