No more small teams? Women's World Cup minnows closing the gap

AUCKLAND: With the opening round of group games completed, fears that a first 32-team Women's World Cup would see a flurry of embarrassing mismatches appear largely misplaced.

England, another of the favourites, struggled to break down a Haiti side ranked 53rd in the world and making their World Cup debut.The United States were expected to rattle in the goals against 32nd-ranked Vietnam but settled for a 3-0 victory in Auckland, although they missed a penalty and the shot count was 26-0.

Eight teams are appearing in the finals for the first time, and that exposure to this stage will stand them in good stead for the future, even if there could be some more heavy defeats along the way. Not least Jamaica. They lost all three group games in 2019, including a 5-0 defeat by Italy. On Sunday they held heavyweights France to a 0-0 stalemate.

The wider women's game is benefiting from greater investment, both at club and international level, and FIFA's prize pot for this year's World Cup, of US$152 million, is triple that of four years ago.

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