Women’s World Cup – Group F preview
Holders United States are gunning for a third successive Women’s World Cup title and the question is, can anyone stop them? They have the team that they beat four years ago in the final in their pool but should have little trouble with the other two.
GROUP F FIXTURES (times are SAST)
23 July France v Jamaica 12:00
24 July Brazil v Panama 13:00
29 July France v Brazil 12:00
29 July Panama v Jamaica 14:30
2 August Panama v France 12:00
2 August Jamaica v Brazil 12:00
Fifa WOMEN’S RANKINGS
5 – France
8 – Brazil
43 – Jamaica
52 – Panama
GROUP SUMMARY
This is a lopsided group with two teams in the top eight in the world and then two of the lowest ranked sides in the competition.
France and Brazil should waltz through, perhaps the only question being who ends up top of the pool.
France have had their issues in the last few years with player revolts and the likes, but seem more settled now with coach Herve Renard in the team, a man who knows Africa well and took charge of Saudi Arabia at the men’s World Cup in Qatar late last year.
He will therefore have the rare distinction of taking charge at two senior World Cup in the space of seven months.
"To be honest with you, when I first came I didn't ask a lot of questions because it was not under my responsibility," Renard said of France’s internal strife.
"It's always easy to judge from outside. But the most important is to start together on the right way. All the coaches they have a different philosophy on the field, outside of the field. My philosophy is clear – it's we can't win anything without a very good team spirit."
Renard won the Africa Cup of Nations with unfancied Zambia in 2012 and Ivory Coast in 2015, and was also in charge of Morocco at the 2018 men’s World Cup, so
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