Women’s World Cup Guide: Results, schedule and how to watch

The United States started its bid for an unprecedented three-peat at the Women’s World Cup with a 3-0 win over Vietnam and followed it up with a 1-1 draw against Netherlands in a rematch of the 2019 final. Winning a third straight title won’t be easy for the No. 1 team in the world.

Co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, the quadrennial tournament for international soccer’s most coveted trophy kicked off July 20 and features an expanded field of 32 teams, up from 24. There are 64 matches during the tournament.

That means more competition for the two-time defending World Cup champion U.S., which won the 2015 event in Canada and the 2019 tournament in France. The Americans have won four titles overall, the most of any nation.

Women’s World Cup results

Veterans Eugénie Le Sommer and Wendie Renard revived France’s Women’s World Cup ambitions with a goal each in a 2-1 win over Brazil on Saturday.

Defender Allyson Swaby scored in the 56th minute and Jamaica hung on to edge Panama 1-0 for its first-ever win at the Women’s World Cup.

After leaving it to the last minute against South Africa, Sweden left nothing to chance in a 5-0 win over Italy which sealed its place in the knockout rounds of the Women’s World Cup.

Women’s World Cup schedule

On Sunday, top positions in Group A will be decided when Switzerland takes on tournament co-host New Zealand in Dunedin and Norway plays Philippines at Auckland. Both matches kick off at 7 p.m. local time (3 a.m. ET). The second games in Group H will be in Australia, with South Korea and Morocco meeting at Adelaide at 2 p.m. local time (12:30 a.m. ET) and Germany playing Colombia at 7:30 p.m. local time in Sydney (5:30 a.m. ET).

On Monday, co-host Australia needs to beat Olympic champion Canada to guarantee a place in the round of 16. The Group B match kicks off at 8 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET ) at Melbourne. Nigeria will be aiming to advance when it takes on winless Ireland in Brisbane at the same time. There’s two games in Group C kicking off at 7 p.m. local time (3 a.m. ET) in New Zealand: Spain and Japan are equal on six points and will be vying for top spot in the group when they meet in Wellington, while Costa Rica and Zambia are aiming for their first wins of the tournament when they play in Hamilton.

How to watch the FIFA Women’s World Cup

Fox holds the English-language media rights in the United States for the Women’s World Cup. Telemundo holds the Spanish-language rights.

Fox will broadcast a record 29 matches over the air on its main network and the rest of the games will be aired on FS1. All matches will be streamed on the Fox app.

FIFA struck a collective deal with the European Broadcasting Union in mid-June, ending a standoff with a broadcasters in five major European television markets. The deal guarantees the games will air in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Britain.

Top stories

Keira Walsh will miss England’s next game a t the Women’s World Cup because of a knee injury but there is optimism that the midfielder can return to play at the tournament.

The website Outsports, which covers the gay sports community, says there’s at least 95 out LGBTQ+ athletes competing in the Women’s World Cup. Pride flags and gay-friendly signs have been visible at games around the tournament. Professor of sociology and anthropology Lindsey Freeman says “It’s just the ad hoc, fun culture of women’s soccer that you’re seeing in this World Cup.”

Norway forward and 2018 Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg is out with a groin injury for her country’s final group stage match against the Philippines.

Star striker Sam Kerr says she’ll be available for Australia’s must-win Women’s World Cup game against Olympic champion Canada after missing the team’s first two group games because of a left calf muscle injury.

Betting guide

The United States is a +270 favorite to win the World Cup, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. After the opening 10 days of the tournament, Spain is next at +300, followed by England and Germany +600. France has moved up to +900.