The Women's World Cup starts today and I wanted to get some predictions out before the matches kick off. I went through the groups and did a quick analysis of the teams and made my predictions, then looking back over them realised that my head didn't play as much of a role as I thought it would when I started out.
Here are my predictions for the groups:
Group A
Canada - 7
Netherlands - 5
NZ - 4
China - 0
Group B
Germany - 9
Norway - 6
CDI - 3
Thailand - 0
Group C
Japan - 9
Cameroon - 4
Swizterland - 2
Ecuador - 1
Group D
Australia - 7
Nigeria - 5
Sweden - 4
USA - 0
Group E
Spain - 7
Korea - 7
Brasil - 3
Costa Rica - 0
Group F
France - 9
England - 6
Colombia - 1
Mexico - 1
Obviously Group D stands out, I do think that is the group of Death, but I think I am likely alone in people making predictions to have the USA on 0 points and not advancing even as a 3rd place side.
For the Knockout Stages here is what I have for the round of 16
Netherlands defeating Cameroon
Australia defeating Brasil
Germany defeating NZ in Ottawa
France defeating Korea
Spain defeating Nigeria
Japan defeating CDI
England defeating Norway in Ottawa
Canada defeating Sweden
Such is the nature of knockout tournaments like this that any side which makes it hear could go on to win it all with a little luck. Now my head tells me that we will see a Germany - Japan final, this is what my head tells me even if my USA prediction is way off. However, when I was selecting the winner in these matches I went with my gut/heart and here is what I've got.
Quarterfinals
Australia defeating Netherlands in Ottawa
Germany defeating France - This will be the match of the tournament in my mind, in terms of quality.
Japan defeating Spain
Canada defeating England
I think Canada could very easily lose this match, and believe it would still be a good tournament for us if we did.
Semi Finals
Australia defeating Germany
Canada defeating Japan
Final
Canada defeats Australia
So there you have it, I pick Canada to win it all on home soil over a superb Matildas side.
Do I have it all right? Probably because I haven't put any money on it. That said I did start a Super Bru pool so test your knowledge of the outcome of each match and we will see just how smart/ridiculous my picks were.
Here are the details for the Superbru pool:
Pool name: Pompey Canucks's WWC Pool
Pool code: innsrids
If you want to laugh at my picks, I will be at all of the games in Ottawa or send me a tweet @pompeycanuck
Enjoy the tournament!
