USA drawn into Group F for 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup

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PARIS, France (Via U.S. Soccer) – The U.S. Women’s National Team will face Thailand, Chile and Sweden in Group F at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, taking place from June 7-July 7 at nine venues in France. The Final Draw took place today at the Le Seine Musicale, a music and performance arts center in the suburbs of Paris.

As the top-ranked team in the world, the USA was among the six seeded teams in the tournament and prior to the Final Draw was placed in Pot 1 with the five other seeds. After France was placed in Group A as host, the USA was the sixth team to be drawn and was placed in Group F.

Jill Ellis on the #USWNT 2019 FIFA World Cup Draw result | https://t.co/gLgq2Z10JJ

Courtesy U.S. Soccer / Wazee Digital pic.twitter.com/JdhgyWeqBc

— SoccerWire.com (@TheSoccerWire) December 9, 2018

“”It’s a good group in terms of we have three different teams, a European team, Asia and South America,” U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Jill Ellis said from Paris. “In our opening game we have Thailand, who we’ve played once, and I like playing teams that we haven’t played a lot. Then, obviously we have a familiar foe in Sweden. It’s a good group and I’m excited to get this thing started!”

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Prior to the Final Draw, the remaining 16 teams were placed into their pots in descending order according to their FIFA rankings. The USA then drew Sweden from Pot 2, Thailand from Pot 3 and Chile from Pot 4.

The U.S. will open Group F play against Thailand on June 11 at Auguste Delaune Stadium in Remis. The USA then faces Chile on June 16 in at Parc des Princes in Paris, followed by Sweden on June 20 at Stade Océane in Le Harve.

U.S. 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Schedule

All three cities the U.S. will play in are located across the north of France with Remis located a 90-minute drive north east of Paris and Le Harve a little more than a two-hour drive north west of the French capital. Coincidently, the U.S. will kick off its Countdown to the Cup in Le Harve on Jan. 19 when the team faces World Cup host France to kick of its 2019 schedule.

The USA and Sweden are two of only seven countries to have competed in every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Thailand will feature at a second consecutive tournament after making its Women’s World Cup debut in 2015, while Chile will make its Women’s World Cup debut this summer in France.

Sweden, a U.S. opponent in the past four FIFA Women’s World Cup Group Stages, was also the USA’s first ever Women’s World Cup opponent when FIFA’s premier women’s competition began with the 1991 event in China. While the teams have never met in a Knockout Round match, USA holds a 3-1-1 record vs. Sweden in the teams’ five previous World Cup games. The U.S. has never faced Thailand or Chile in World Cup play.

Under FIFA’s standard rule, no group could include more than one team from the same qualifying zone except Europe, which will have nine teams in France. Each group therefore had to have at

least one European team but no more than two. As a result, three of the six groups have two European teams.

USA’s Group F Opponents:

THAILAND (June 11 in Remis):

• Current FIFA World Ranking: 29
• 2019 WCQ: Finished fourth at the 2018 AFC Women’s Cup (2-2-1; 12 GF, 11 GA)
• Women’s World Cup Finals Appearances: 2 – 2015 (17th), 2019
• Record vs. USA: 0-1-0
• Head Coach: Nuengruethai Sathongwien
• Championship Honors: Asian Football Confederation Champions (1983)
• Leading WCQ Scorers: Kanjana Sungngoen (4 goals), Rattikan Thongsombut (2 goals), Suchawadee Nildhamrong (2 goals), Silawan Intamee (2 goals)
• Key Players: Wilaiporn Boothduang, Rattikan Thongsombut, Kanjana Sungngoen
• Fast Facts: At the 2018 AFC Women’s Cup, Thailand almost pulled off a massive upset when it faced top-ranked Australia in the semifinal as the teams battled to a 2-2 draw, but only after Alanna Kennedy tied it for Australia in second-half stoppage time … Australia then defeated Thailand in a penalty shootout to advance to the championship match while Thailand went to the Third-Place match, where it fell to China PR, 3-1 … Thailand participated in its first Women’s World Cup at the senior level in 2015 in Canada, putting in a respectable performance, falling 4-0 to long-time power Norway before picking up its first win in a FIFA competition with a 3-2 victory against Ivory Coast … Thailand then fell 4-0 to then world No. 1 Germany and bowed out of the tournament with distinction … Thailand’s historic victory against the Ivory Coast featured two goals from Orathai Srimanee and one from Thanatta Chawong.

CHILE (June 16 in Paris):

• Current FIFA World Ranking: 38
• 2019 WCQ: Finished second at the 2018 Copa America Femenina (3-1-3; 13 GF, 5 GA)
• Women’s World Cup Finals Appearances: 1 – 2019
• Record vs. USA: 0-2-0
• Head Coach: Jose Letelier
• Championship Honors: Copa America Femenina Runners Up (2018)
• Leading WCQ Scorers: Yanara Aedo (3 goals)
• Key Players: Christiane Endler (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA), Yanara Aedo (Valencia, ESP), Carla Guerrero (Rayo Vallecano, ESP), Francisca Lara (Sevilla, ESP)
• Fast Facts: Chile will participate in its first Women’s World Cup at the senior level … Chile was a surprise qualifier to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, but in front of its home fans, it finished second behind Colombia in Group A at the Copa America Feminina, earning a spot in the four-team Final Stage, where it once again finished second, this time behind Brazil … The historic victory that earned Chile its World Cup berth was a 4-0 win against Argentina in the final game for both teams.

SWEDEN (June 20 in Le Harve):

• Current FIFA World Ranking: 9
• 2019 WCQ: Won Group 4 of UEFA Qualification (7-1-0; 22 GF, 2 GA)
• Women’s World Cup Finals Appearances: 8 – 1991 (3rd), 1995 (5th), 1999 (6th), 2003 (Runners-Up), 2007 (10th), 2011 (3rd), 2015 (16th), 2019
• Record vs. USA: 6-21-11
• Head Coach: Peter Gerhardsson
• Championship Honors: EURO Champions (1984), World Cup Runners-Up (2003), Olympic Silver Medalists (2016)
• Leading WCQ Scorers: Kosovare Asllani (4 goals), Stina Blackstenius (3 goals)
• Key Players: Hedvig Lindahl (Chelsea, ENG), Linda Sembrant (Montpellier, FRA), Kosovare Asllani (Linköping), Caroline Seger (Rosengård), Sofia Jakobsson (Montpellier, FRA), Stina Blackstenius (Montpellier, FRA)
• Fast Facts: One of the USA’s 2015 World Cup Group Stage opponents, Sweden continues to be a European powerhouse in the women’s game … After their scoreless draw in Canada, the USA and Sweden met at the 2016 Olympics, where a 1-1 draw through regulation and overtime led to a penalty shootout in which Sweden edged the USA … A year later, the teams met in Gothenburg, Sweden, where the USA triumphed with a 1-0 victory, courtesy of Rose Lavelle.

U.S. All-Time Record vs. Group F World Cup Opponents

For a complete tournament schedule, visit ussoccer.com.

2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Groups

Group A (Paris, Reims, Rennes, Grenoble, Nice):
France
Korea Republic
Norway
Nigeria

Group B (Valenciennes, Le Havre, Paris, Rennes, Montpellier):
Germany
China
Spain
South Africa

Group C (Valenciennes, Reims, Grenoble, Montpellier):
Australia
Italy
Brazil
Jamaica

Group D (Le Havre, Paris, Rennes, Nice):
England
Scotland
Japan
Argentina

Group E (Valenciennes, Le Havre, Reims, Grenoble, Montpellier):
Canada
Cameroon
New Zealand
Netherlands

Group F (Le Havre, Reims, Paris, Rennes, Nice):
United States
Thailand
Chile
Sweden

2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Notes:

• Of its three Group Stage opponents, the USA most recently played Chile in a pair of matches earlier this year, winning 3-0 on Aug. 31 in Carson, Calif. and 4-0 on Sept. 4 in San Jose, Calif.
• The USA and Sweden’s most recent match was a 1-0 U.S. win in Gothenburg, Sweden on June 8, 2017, while Thailand last opposed the U.S. in a 9-0 loss on Sept. 15 2016 in Columbus, Ohio.
• This World Cup will feature four first-time participants: Scotland, Jamaica, Chile and South Africa.
• The USA is making its eighth appearance in a FIFA Women’s World Cup and is one of seven countries to appear in all eight editions of the tournament. The others are Brazil, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, Norway and Sweden.
• The U.S. WNT is one of three CONCACAF representatives at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The USA won the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Championship. The runner-up of that qualifying tournament, Canada, as well as third-place finisher Jamaica will also represent the region at the World Cup.
• The U.S. is the only country to have reached semifinals of every FIFA Women’s World Cup. The USA won in 1991, 1999 and 2015.
• Despite winning five of the seven previous tournaments (two for Germany and three for the USA), the USA and Germany have never met in a FIFA Women’s World Cup Final but did meet in the semifinal of the 2015 tournament.
• The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be played at nine venues: Grenoble (Stade Des Alpes), Le Havre (Stade Oceane), Lyon (Stade De Lyon), Montpellier (Stade De La Mosson), Nice (Stade De Nice), Paris (Parc Des Princes), Reims (Stade Auguste-Delaune), Rennes (Roazhon Park), Valenciennes (Stade Du Hainaut)
• The 90,185 fans at the Rose Bowl for the USA’s victory against China PR in the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final represented the largest single-game attendance in the tournament’s history. The largest venue at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup is Stade De Lyon, which seats 58,215, and will host both Semifinals and the World Cup Final.
• The U.S. WNT is 33-6-4 all-time in the Women’s World Cup, outscoring its opponents 112-35 in 43 games. The 33 wins, 43 games played, and 112 goals scored are all FIFA Women’s World Cup records.
• The USA’s most lopsided victory in the tournament was a 7-0 win against Chinese Taipei in 1991.
• Michelle Akers’ five goals against Chinese Taipei are the most in a single match in tournament history.
• Carli Lloyd’s hat trick in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final is one of just two three-goal games for the USA in Women’s World Cup history. Carin Jennings scored three times against Germany in the semifinal of the 1991 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
• Kristine Lilly holds the record of most World Cup games played, playing 30 games in five World Cups while goalkeeper Briana Scurry earned a record 10 shutouts over four World Cups.
• The USA officially clinched a spot in this year’s World Cup with a 6-0 semifinal victory against Jamaica on Oct. 14 in the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Championship. The USA capped off qualifying with a 2-0 win against Canada in the title game on Oct. 17 on goals by Rose Lavelle and Alex Morgan.