FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP CANADA 2015™ - Canada Soccer · FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP CANADA 2015™ THE COMPETITION CONCACAF 27 of 35 Nations SOUTH AMERICA (CONMEBOL) All 10 Nations

MEDIA GUIDE24 FINALISTS | 6 DECEMBER 2014

FIFA.COM/CANADA2015

FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP CANADA 2015™

FIFA.com/Canada2015 | 19FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™18 |

WINNER’S TROPHYThe FIFA Women’s World Cup™ Trophy is a valuable component of the event.

DESIGN STORYThe official Trophy incorporates two of the attributes of women’s football: elegance and dynamism. Originally handmade, it is in the form of a spiral band which encloses a football at the top. The Trophy was recently fitted with a modern, cone shaped base which reinforces the uplifting spirit of the design.

The designer described it like this: ‘It states with a simple movement at the bottom, then rises upwards in a dancing crescendo of elegance, just like the level of interest that women’s football is raising in the world.’ The design supports the FIFA President’s repeated observation: ‘The future of football is feminine.’

DESIGN DETAILS• Designer: William Sawaya, Sawaya & Moroni,

Milan, Italy

• Manufacturer: Beat Meixger, Europokal, Volketswil, Switzerland

• Year of design: 1998 | Year of manufacture: 2012

• Height: 47 cm | Weight: 4.6 kg

• Material: Bronze, gold plated; polished aluminium; Granite Verde Candeias

1. A souvenir plaque will be presented to each Participating Member Association. Participation certificates will be presented to each member of each official team delegation.

2. FIFA shall be responsible for the administra-tion of the award ceremony, which shall take place after the final match. The FIFA President or his representative, the head of state of the host country or his representative, and the heads of delegation of the teams concerned shall be part of the award ceremony.

3. A representative from FIFA will present the winner of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ with the trophy.

4. A diploma will be presented to the associa-tions ranked first, second, third and fourth in the final competition.

5. Medals will be presented to each of the top three teams in the final competition, i.e. gold medals to the winners, silver medals to the run-ners-up and bronze medals to the team ranked third.

6. One medal will be presented to each of the match officials who take charge of the play-off for third place and the final.

7. A fair play contest will be held during the final competition. The FIFA Organising Commit-tee will determine the ranking at the end of the final competition. Such decisions are final.

8. At the conclusion of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, the following special awards will be pre-sented:

a) Fair Play Trophy

The FIFA Fair Play Trophy, a fair play medal for each Delegation Member, a diploma and a voucher for USD 10,000 worth of football equip-ment (to be used for women’s football develop-

ment) will be presented to the team finishing first in the fair play contest. The applicable rules are in the fair play contest regulations.

b) adidas Golden Boot

The adidas Golden Boot will be awarded to the player who scores the most goals in the final competition. If two or more players score the same number of goals, the number of assists (as determined by members of the FIFA Techni-cal Study Group) will be decisive. If two or more players are still equal after taking into account the number of assists, the total minutes played in the final competition will be taken into ac-count, with the player playing fewer minutes ranked first.

A Silver Boot and a Bronze Boot for the sec-ond and third highest goalscorers will also be awarded.

c) adidas Golden Ball

The adidas Golden Ball will be awarded to the best player in the final competition on the ba-sis of a ranking compiled by the FIFA Technical Study Group. A Silver Ball and a Bronze Ball will be awarded to the second and third best players.

d) adidas Golden Glove

The adidas Golden Glove will be awarded to the best goalkeeper in the final competition on the basis of a ranking compiled by the FIFA Techni-cal Study Group.

e) Best Young Player

The Best Young Player will be awarded to the best young player in the tournament, as select-ed by the FIFA Technical Study Group.

9. There are no official awards other than those listed above, unless otherwise decided by the FIFA Organising Committee.

AWARDS


A record 129 nations will participate in the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™. Only host Canada skipped the Qualifiers, with the other 128 nations competing in 398 qualification matches from 4 April 2013 to 2 December 2014. After 105 nations are eliminated, 23 finalists will join the hosts from 6 June to 5 July 2015 in six Canadian cities.

Through the Official Draw on 6 December 2014, the 24 finalists are separated into six groups. Following the group phase, the knockout phase features the round of 16, the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, and both the match for 3rd place and Final Match. In all, 52 matches will be played in the final competition, with matches to be played in six Canadian host cities.

129 NATIONS PARTICIPATE IN THE FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP CANADA 2015™

THE COMPETITION

CONCACAF27 of 35 Nations

SOUTH AMERICA (CONMEBOL)

All 10 Nations

EUROPE (UEFA)

46 of 53 Nations

AFRICA (CAF)

22 of 54 Nations

ASIA (AFC)

20 of 46 Nations

OCEANIA (OFC)

4 of 11 Nations TO A GREATER GOAL™: GROWTH OF WOMEN’S FOOTBALL

2015 2011 2007 2003 1999 1995 1991129 123 119 100 82 52 45

FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP CANADA 2015™FIFA.com/Canada2015 @fifawwc #WWC #Canada2015

398 QUALIFIERS | 129 NATIONS | 24 FINALISTS

VANCOUVER | EDMONTON | WINNIPEG | OTTAWA | MONTRÉAL | MONCTON

CANADA

COSTA RICA

MEXICO

USA

SPAIN

SWEDEN

SWITZERLAND

CAMEROON

BRAZIL

COLOMBIA

ECUADOR

ENGLAND

CÔTE D’IVOIRE

NIGERIA

AUSTRALIA

CHINA PR

FRANCE

GERMANY

NETHERLANDS

NORWAY

JAPAN

KOREA REPUBLIC

THAILAND

NEW ZEALAND

6 JUNE - 5 JULY | 52 MATCHES FROM COAST TO COAST ACROSS CANADA

Over the last 24 years, the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ has grown from 45 to 129 participating nations.


HEARTBREAKS & HEROES23 May 2013 - Philippines conceded just one goal in Canada 2015 Quali-fiers, but unfortunately it came in the decisive head-to-head group match against Thailand. Nisa Romyen pro-vided the blow in the 37th minute of the 1:0 victory in Bangladesh.

31 October 2013 - Just five days af-ter a disappointing 1:1 away draw in Serbia, Denmark lost 0:1 at home to Switzerland, a result that would ulti-mately help eliminate the Danes and help qualify the Swiss more than sev-en months later in June 2014.

5 April 2014 - Italy failed to score at home in an important group match against Spain, a result that could have turned the group standings - and Canada 2015 qualification - in Italy’s favour.

5 April 2014 - Republic of Ireland thought it did enough in equalising 2-2 with Germany in the 89th minute, but the hosts conceded just minutes later in a heartbreaking 2:3 loss in Dublin.

7 June 2014 - An Añonman equaliser in the 89th minute was enough for

Equatorial Guinea to draw 2:2 in the return leg at home, but it was not enough to overcome the away goals rule as the former African champions were eliminated by Côte d’Ivoire.

19 June 2014 - Russia’s scoreless home draw with the Republic of Ire-land would come back to haunt the Russians three months later. Russia would finish the group stage with 22 points, not enough to advance ahead of Ukraine into the UEFA playoffs.

20 September 2014 - Chile blew a 2-1 lead in their group finale, with Para-guay’s 15-year old Jessica Martínez scoring the 3:2 winner that eliminated the Chileans. Unbelievably, Paraguay would be eliminated just a few hours later after Argentina spirited a 2:0 win over group leaders Brazil.

28 September 2014 - Argentina was in the driver’s seat with a 2-0 lead after 30 minutes in the second stage, group

finale. The hosts Ecuador, however, answered with three goals, including the Giannina Lattanzio winner in the 77th minute.

12 October 2014 - Ghana’s road to Canada 2015 was set off course on the opening day of the African Cham-pionship after Algeria’s Horiya Affak scored an 87th minute winner. It was Ghana’s only loss in Canada 2015 Qualifiers.

18 October 2014 - Jamaica’s first of back-to-back losses at the CONCACAF Championship was a heartbreaker, with Costa Rica’s Raquel Rodriguez scoring the 87th minute winner. The two sides traded goals just a minute apart 10 minutes earlier before Rodri-guez scored the winner.

25 October 2014 - South Africa piled on the chances in their last opportu-nity to qualify, but failed to beat Côte d’Ivoire goalkeeper Dominique Thi-amalé in the African Championship match in Windhoek, Namibia.

25 October 2014 - Scotland lost both of its UEFA playoff matches to Nether-lands, but it was the opener at home that may have hurt most. Scotland conceded twice inside 15 minutes in what turned out to be a 1:2 loss.

29 October 2014 - Ukraine was less than 12 minutes from advancing from the UEFA playoff semi-final, but Ita-ly’s Patrizia Panico spoiled Ukraine’s chances with a 79th-minute elimina-tion goal in Lviv.

2 December 2014 - Trinidad and Tobago was eliminated after conced-ing in the 90th minute of an 0:1 loss to Ecuador. Earlier in the evening, Soca Warrior Kennya Cordner had hit the crossbar in the 48th minute.

26 September & 31 October 2013 - Ramona Bachmann and Lara Dick-enmann were the goal-scoring heroes in a pair of away victories over Iceland and Denmark that laid the groundwork to Switzerland’s first-ever qualification to the FIFA Women’s World Cup™.

30 October 2013 - In a key away victo-ry, Norway’s Caroline Hansen scored a screamer of an opener in a 2:1 victory over Netherlands. She was Norway’s top goalscorer in Qualifiers.

21 May 2014 - Against 18,000 Viet-namese fans, Thailand’s Kanjana Sung-Ngoen scored two goals in a 2:1 win to earn her country’s first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup™ qualification.

25 May 2014 - Japan’s Aya Miyama was the Most Valuable Player of the 2014 Women’s Asian Cup in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, helping her nation win their first continental title. Miyama was instrumental in wins over China PR and Australia.

13 September 2014 - Spain’s Nata-lia Pablos scored two goals in her country’s penultimate group match, a 2:0 win that helped Spain earn their first-ever qualification to the FIFA Women’s World Cup™.

28 September 2014 - Brazil’s Cristiane was the Top Scorer at the 2014 Copa América Femenina. In the final phase, she scored winning goals against Ecuador and Argentina before Brazil closed out the competition with a 0:0 draw against second-place Colombia.

22 October 2014 - In the African semi-final, Cameroon captain Chris-tine Manie scored the extra-time winner to earn her country’s first-ever qualification to the FIFA Women’s World Cup™. As for opponent Côte d’Ivoire...

... 25 October 2014 - Just three days after losing to Cameroon on a 118th-minute winner, Côte d’Ivoire’s Rebecca Ida became a national hero with an 85th minute winner against

South Africa. The 1:0 win helped Côte d’Ivoire earn their first-ever qualifica-tion to the FIFA Women’s World Cup™.

24 October 2014 - Costa Rica’s goal-keeper Dinnia Díaz became a national hero after making three saves on kicks from the penalty mark, helping her country earn their first-ever qualifica-tion to a FIFA Women’s World Cup™.

25 October 2014 - Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala was the Most Valuable Player of the 2014 African Women’s Champi-onship in Windhoek, Namibia. Oshoala scored twice in Nigeria’s 2:1 win over South Africa to qualify on 22 October, then scored another goal in the 2:0 win over Cameroon in the continental championship.

26 October 2014 - Charlyn Corral scored twice in extra time to earn Mex-ico a spot at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™. Her goals came 126 seconds apart in a 4:2 a.e.t. win over Trinidad and Tobago.

26 October 2014 - USA’s Carli Lloyd was the Most Valuable Player of the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Champion-ship. Lloyd scored two goals in USA’s 3:0 win over Mexico to qualify, then scored another goal in the 6:0 win over Costa Rica to win the CONCACAF title.

29 October 2014 - New Zealand’s Rosie White was the Golden Ball winner as the most outstanding player of the 2014 OFC Women’s Nations Cup. She helped New Zealand win matches against Tonga, Papua New Guinea and Cook Islands.

27 November 2014 - Teenager Vivianne Miedema scored two goals in an away 2:1 win over Italy as Netherlands qual-ified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ for the first time.

2 December 2014 - Mónica Quinteros scored a 90th winner to qualify Ecuador for the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ for the first time in a 1:0 away win on the last day of Qualifiers.

NATIONS ELIMINATED

QUALIFIERS398 128*MATCHES NATIONS*Host Canada did not participate

FIRST MATCH: 2013-04-04 LAST MATCH: 2014-12-02

1 YEAR 7 MONTHS

28 DAYS

MATCHES PLAYEDAROUND THE WORLD IN

79 COUNTRIES & 179 DIFFERENT CITIES

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE

2,738* SPECTATORS

*FROM 152 MATCHES WITH ATTENDANCE RECORDED

1,643TOTAL GOALS

GOALS PER GAME:4.13

GOAL DIFFERENCE WIN BY 3+ GOALS 187 2-GOAL WIN 69 1-GOAL WIN 99 SCORE DRAW 28 GOALLESS DRAW 15

Totals do not include results or goals against non-FIFA nation Martinique

1058

FORMER FINALISTS WILL

MISS CANADA

21 May 2014 - Nguyen Thi Tuyet’s late 25-yard screamer was not enough as host Vietnam lost 1:2 to Thailand in a qualification match in front of 18,000 disappointed Vietnamese fans.

27 November 2014 - After an away 1:1 draw in Netherlands, Italy lost 1:2 at home in Verona as they were eliminated from FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ Qualifiers.


GROUP A

EDMONTON · EDMONTON · MONTRÉAL

A1 CANADA

EDMONTON · EDMONTON · WINNIPEG

A2

EDMONTON · EDMONTON · WINNIPEG

A3

EDMONTON · EDMONTON · MONTRÉAL

A4

GROUP C

VANCOUVER · VANCOUVER · WINNIPEG

C1

VANCOUVER · VANCOUVER · EDMONTON

C2

VANCOUVER · VANCOUVER · EDMONTON

C3

VANCOUVER · VANCOUVER · WINNIPEG

C4

GROUP E

MONTRÉAL · MONTRÉAL · MONCTON

E1

MONTRÉAL · MONTRÉAL · OTTAWA

E2

MONTRÉAL · MONTRÉAL · OTTAWA

E3

MONTRÉAL · MONTRÉAL · MONCTON

E4

GROUP B

OTTAWA · OTTAWA · WINNIPEG

B1

OTTAWA · OTTAWA · MONCTON

B2

OTTAWA · OTTAWA · MONCTON

B3

OTTAWA · OTTAWA · WINNIPEG

B4

GROUP D

WINNIPEG · WINNIPEG · VANCOUVER

D1

WINNIPEG · WINNIPEG · EDMONTON

D2

WINNIPEG · WINNIPEG · EDMONTON

D3

WINNIPEG · WINNIPEG · VANCOUVER

D4

GROUP F

MONCTON · MONCTON · OTTAWA

F1

MONCTON · MONCTON · MONTRÉAL

F2

MONCTON · MONCTON · MONTRÉAL

F3

MONCTON · MONCTON · OTTAWA

F4

24 FINALISTSAFC

JAPAN2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup winnersQualified on 18 May 2014

AUSTRALIA2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup runners upQualified on 18 May 2014

CHINA PR2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup third placeQualified on 19 May 2014

KOREA REPUBLIC2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup fourth placeQualified on 19 May 2014

THAILAND2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup fifth placeQualified on 21 May 2014

CONCACAFCANADAFIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ Qualified as hosts of the final competition

USA2014 CONCACAF Championship winnersQualified on 24 October 2014

COSTA RICA2014 CONCACAF Championship runners upQualified on 24 October 2014

MEXICO2014 CONCACAF Championship third placeQualified on 26 October 2014

CONMEBOLBRAZIL2014 Copa América Femenina winnersQualified on 26 September 2014

COLOMBIA2014 Copa América Femenina runners upQualified on 28 September 2014

ECUADORCONCACAF-CONMEBOL playoff winnersQualified on 2 December 2014

CAFNIGERIA2014 African Championship winnersQualified on 22 October 2014

CAMEROON2014 African Championship runners upQualified on 22 October 2014

CÔTE D’IVOIRE2014 African Championship third placeQualified on 25 October 2014

OFCNEW ZEALAND2014 OFC Women’s Nations Cup winnersQualified on 29 October 2014

UEFAGERMANY2013-14 UEFA Group 1 winnersQualified on 13 September 2014

SPAIN2013-14 UEFA Group 2 winnersQualified on 13 September 2014

SWITZERLAND2013-14 UEFA Group 3 winnersQualified on 16 June 2014

SWEDEN2013-14 UEFA Group 4 winnersQualified on 17 September 2014

NORWAY2013-14 UEFA Group 5 winnersQualified on 13 September 2014

ENGLAND2013-14 UEFA Group 6 winnersQualified on 21 August 2014

FRANCE2013-14 UEFA Group 7 winnersQualified on 13 September 2014

NETHERLANDS2014 UEFA Playoff winners Qualified on 27 November 2014


Football Federation AustraliaPresident: Frank LowyGeneral Secretary: David GallopFoundation year: 1961

Website: www.footballaustralia.com.auLanguages: EnglishMedia Officer: Jessica LaycockE: [email protected]

Commonwealth of AustraliaCapital: CanberraFIFA Trigramme: AUSFIFA affiliation since: 1963

FIFA Big Count:Footballers: 970,728Registered: 435,728Unregistered : 535,000

FOOTBALL FEDERATION AUSTRALIA

THIRD FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP AS HEAD COACH

ALENSTAJCIC

FOOTBALL COACH

Named Australia’s coach on 22 September 2014 (after serving as interim coach starting on 18 April)... helped Australia finish second at the 2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup... won a pair of league titles as coach of Sydney FC... earned his FFA Pro Coaches licence in 2014.

BORN 1973-11-02, BLACKTOWN, AUS

AUSTRALIA WNT SINCE 2014

1ST FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS HEAD COACH

AUSTRALIA

FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 BEST FINISH 6TH PLACE IN 2007

2X WOMEN’S OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT 3X FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

AUSTRALIA PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

AFCCHAMPIONS

CHERYL SALISBURY FAMOUSLY SCORED

AN ADDED-TIME GOAL TO PUSH

AUSTRALIA INTO KNOCK-OUT PHASE AT CHINA PR 2007

@FFA @TheMatildas

1X2007 QUARTERS

2010

ROAD TO CANADAWith five Asian berths up for grabs, Aus-tralia comfortably won through to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ by vir-tue of a runners-up finish at the 2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup. The team had endured a tumultuous preparation with Alen Stajcic filling the coaching role on an interim basis following the sudden departure of Hesterine De Reus just prior to Vietnam 2014.

Australia saw off Jordan and Vietnam, as well as drawing 2:2 with Japan in the group stage, before defeating Korea Republic 2:1 in the semi-finals. The Matildas came with-in a whisker of retaining their Asian crown only to fall 0:1 against FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011™ champions Japan in the con-tinental final.

STRENGTHS & STYLEThe current team defy the traditional stereotype of Australian teams as a pacy, youthful side

boasts a host of talented ball-players. Experi-enced forwards Lisa De Vanna and Kate Gill are among the few that could be considered veter-ans, although many in the squad debuted at the last FIFA Women’s World Cup™ as Australia fielded the second youngest squad at Germany 2011. Thus the Matildas squad is very much one that is youthful, yet experienced.

FIFA.com/Canada20152014 3W - 1D - 1L

Qualified on 18 May 2014

“A” INTERNATIONALS (AUS)2014* 5-2-4 2013 4-1-2

2012 4-1-4 2011 8-0-4

2010 8-2-3 2009 0-1-1

2014-05-14 AUS 2:2 JPN 2014-05-16 AUS 3:1 JOR 2014-05-18 VIE 0:2 AUS

2014-02-22 KOR 1:2 AUS 2014-05-25 JPN 1:0 AUS

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14

Both De Vanna (Melbourne Victory) and Gill (Perth Glory) played in the W-League during Australia’s spring-summer season (September to December 2014). Midway through the cam-paign, Gill was the league’s top scorer.

With Australia, Gill became her country’s all-time leading goalscorer in 2014, surpassing previous record holder Cheryl Salisbury.

Opposite the domestic season, USA’s National Women’s Soccer League offers opportunities to several players. Stephanie Catley, the Austra-lian U-20 Player of the Year in 2013, was named to the NWSL Second XI in 2014.

One-time NWSL player Caitlin Foord was the Hyundai Best Young Player winner at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011™.

Since 1995, Australia has participated in every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, with their best finish sixth place at China 2007 after reaching the quarter-final phase.

Australia has also competed in two Women’s Olympic Football Tournaments and three FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups, as well as the 1988 Women’s International Tournament in China PR.

AUSTRALIA’S 6TH FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2014 AFC WOMEN’S ASIAN CUP RUNNERS UP

VISIT FIFA.com/Canada2015 FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION, INCLUDING THE FINAL 23-PLAYER ROSTER TO BE PUBLISHED IN LATE MAY 2015



BRAZIL VADÃO

FOOTBALL COACH

Oswaldo Fumeiro Alvarez... named Brazil’s national coach on 14 April 2014... helped Brazil win the 2014 Copa América women’s championship... has more than 30 years experience as a coach in men’s club football... has coached players like Rivaldo & Kaká.

Confederação Brasileira de FutebolPresident: José Maria MarinGeneral Secretary: Júlio César AvelledaFoundation year: 1914

Website: www.cbf.com.brLanguages: Portuguese, EnglishMedia Officer: Fernanda CoimbraEmail: [email protected]

Republica Federativa do BrasilCapital: BrasiliaFIFA Trigramme: BRAFIFA affiliation since: 1923

FIFA Big Count:Footballers: 13,197,733Registered: 2,141,733Unregistered : 11,056,000

BORN 1956-08-21, MONTE AZUL PAULISTA, BRA

CONFEDERAÇÃO BRASILEIRA DE FUTEBOL

BRAZIL WNT SINCE 2014


FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015

BEST FINISH 2ND PLACE IN 2007 5X WOMEN’S OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT 7X FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 3X FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

BRAZIL PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

CONMEBOLCHAMPIONS

MARTA HELPED BRAZIL

REACH THE CHAMPIONSHIP

FINAL IN 2007

@CBF_Futebol

6X2007 2ND PLACE

1991, 1995,1998, 20032010, 2014

BRAZIL WON OLYMPIC SILVER MEDALS IN BOTH 2004 AND 2008

ROAD TO CANADABrazil will travel to what will be their sev-enth FIFA Women’s World Cup™ as reigning six-time Copa América champions, having drawn on their much-vaunted attack to win their latest continental title in Ecuador. Veteran striker Cristiane Rozeira ended the competition as its leading goalscorer, help-ing her side to first-round victories over Bo-livia, Paraguay and Chile before an 0:2 loss to Argentina.

In the final four-team round, the Brazilians cruised to respective 4:1 and 6:0 victories over Ecuador and the Argentinians, be-fore making the trophy theirs with a draw against Colombia.

STRENGTHS & STYLEThough they secured their latest South Amer-ican crown without her, Brazil will be only too happy to have five-time FIFA Women’s World

Player of the Year winner Marta back in the fold at Canada 2015. A star of the global scene for the last decade, she will have the support of a raft of similarly seasoned performers, among them Cristiane, goalkeeper Andréia and mid-fielder Formiga.

FIFA.com/Canada20152014 5W - 1D - 1L Qualified on 24 September 2014

“A” INTERNATIONALS (BRA)2014* 9-7-3 2013 4-4-2

2012 6-1-5 2011 10-3-1

2010 9-2-0 2009 4-1-1

2014-09-12 BRA 6:0 BOL 2014-09-14 PAR 1:4 BRA 2014-09-18 CHI 0:2 BRA 2014-09-20 BRA 0:2 ARG

2014-09-24 BRA 4:0 ECU 2014-09-26 BRA 6:0 ARG 2014-09-28 COL 0:0 BRA

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14

While both Marta and Cristiane played overseas in 2014, Andréia and Formiga were 2014 Copa Libertadores winners with Brazilian club São José

A clutch of new faces has broken into a side now coached by Oswaldo Alvarez, who is better known as Vadão. The coach sets great store by dead-ball situations and has got Brazil playing

a high-octane pressing game with a high de-fence.

On the evidence of the 2014 Copa América, his tactics are working. Brazil enjoyed 62.5 percent possession throughout the tournament and ended it as the highest scorers with 22 goals. A Canarinha also had the tightest defence, con-ceding only three goals.

Brazil has participated in every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, winning medals at both USA 1999 (third place) and China PR 2007 (second place).

Brazil has participated in every Women’s Olym-pic Football Tournament, winning silver medals in 2004 and 2008. Brazil also won bronze at the 1988 Women’s International Tournament.

BRAZIL’S 7TH FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2014 COPA AMÉRICA FEMENINA WINNERS




CAMEROON ENOWNGACHU

FOOTBALL COACH

Carl Enow Ngachu... named Cameroon’s national coach in 2004... helped Cameroon fin-ish second at the 2004 African Women’s Championship... helped Cameroon finish second at the 2014 African Women’s Championship (like in 2004, a loss to Nigeria in the final).

Fédération Camerounaise de FootballPresident: Joseph OwonaGeneral Secretary: Emmanuel NgassaFoundation year: 1959

Website: www.fecafoot-officiel.comLanguages: French, EnglishMedia Officer: Laurence FotsoEmail: [email protected]

Name: République du CamerounCapital: YaoundéFIFA Trigramme: CMRFIFA affiliation since: 1962


BORN 1975-02-21, TALI, CMR

FÉDÉRATION CAMEROUNAISE DE FOOTBALL

CAMEROON WNT SINCE 2004


FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™

FIRST FINALS IN 2015

1X WOMEN’S OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT

CAMEROON PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

CHRISTINE MANIE SCORED AN EXTRA-TIME

WINNER TO QUALIFY CAMEROON FOR

CANADA 2015

@FecafootOfficie

2015 1ST FINALS

GABRIELLE ONGUENE SCORED CAMEROON’S LONE GOAL AT THE

LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES

ROAD TO CANADAAlthough Cameroon have been omnipres-ent at the African Women’s Championship, Les Lionnes had not yet made it to the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ until qualifying for Canada 2015. They qualified for the African Women’s Championship finals in Namibia by beating Senegal 2-1 on aggregate after a 1:1 draw in Ziguinchor and a 1:0 victory at home in Yaoundé in the return leg. They got their campaign in Namibia off to a winning start as Raissa Feudjio’s late goal gave the west Africans a 1:0 victory against a fancied South Africa. A 2:0 win against Algeria in their second match ensured their progress into the semi-finals ahead of their final Group B game against Ghana.

Having already been assured of first place in the group and thereby avoiding top favorites Nigeria in the round of the last four, Camer-oon could even afford an 0:1 defeat against the Black Queens in their last group match. In the semi-finals Cameroon needed extra-time to beat Côte d’Ivoire’s Les Éléphantes 3-1, thereby guaranteeing themselves a first-ever place at the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ finals. An 0:2 de-

feat against Nigeria in the championship match denied them a first continental title, but having earned the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ ticket was consolation enough.

STRENGTHS & STYLECoach Carl Enow Ngachu has had 10 years to build the Cameroon program, most recently earning a berth at the London 2012 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament.


Qualified on 22 October 2014

“A” INTERNATIONALS (CMR)2014* 5-3-3 2013 0-0-0

2012 3-5-5 2011 9-1-1

2010 5-1-2 2009 0-0-0

2014-05-24 SEN 1:1 CMR 2014-06-08 CMR 1:0 SEN 2014-10-12 RSA 0:1 CMR 2014-10-15 CMR 2:0 ALG

2014-10-18 CMR 0:1 GHA 2014-10-22 CMR 2:1 CIV a.e.t. 2014-10-25 NGA 2:0 CMR

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14

At the 2014 African Women’s Championship, Annette Ngo Ndom won Best Goalkeeper hon-ours. Centre back and captain Christine Manie, meanwhile, scored the extra-time winner to qualify Cameroon for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™.

Up front, the star player is Gaëlle Enganamouit, who scored three of the five goals that Camer-

oon scored in Namibia. Enganamouit has played her club football in Europe, once famously scor-ing just two seconds from the start of a match (from behind the centre circle).

After qualifying for Canada 2015, Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene led her club Louves Minproff to a Coupe du Cameroun victory in the all-Yaoundé final in November 2014.

Canada 2015 will mark Cameroon’s first partic-ipation in a FIFA Women’s World Cup™ finals, following up on the country’s debut participa-tion at a Women’s Olympic Football Tournament.

At the London 2012 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, Cameroon lost all three matches to Brazil, Great Britain and New Zealand, but scored in the group finale against the Kiwis.

CAMEROON’S 1ST FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2014 AFRICAN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP RUNNERS UP




CANADA JOHNHERDMAN

FOOTBALL COACH

Named Canada’s coach on 1 September 2011... led Canada to a bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympic Tournament... was a candidate for FIFA Women’s World Coach of the Year in 2012... New Zealand coach at FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in 2007 and 2011.

The Canadian Soccer AssociationPresident: Victor MontaglianiGeneral Secretary: Peter MontopoliFoundation year: 1912

Website: www.canadasoccer.comLanguages: English, FrenchMedia Officer: Michèle DionEmail: [email protected]

Official Name: CanadaCapital: OttawaFIFA Trigramme: CANFIFA affiliation since: 1913

FIFA Big Count:Footballers: 2,695,712Registered: 865,712Unregistered : 1,830,000

BORN 1975-07-19, CONSETT, ENG

THE CANADIAN SOCCER ASSOCIATION

CANADA WNT SINCE 2011

3RD FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS HEAD COACH

FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 BEST FINISH 4TH PLACE IN 2003

2X WOMEN’S OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT 6X FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 4X FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

CANADA PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

CONCACAFCHAMPIONS

CHRISTINE SINCLAIR HELPED CANADA

FINISH IN 4TH PLACE AT USA 2003

@CanadaSoccerEN @CanadaSoccerFR

2X2003 4TH PLACE

19982010

CANADA WON BRONZE AT THE OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT IN 2012

ROAD TO CANADAHosts Canada have been looking forward to the start of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ since they were awarded the showcase event of women’s football in March 2011. In that time, John Herdman’s side have proven they can compete with some of the top nations in the world, most memorably winning a bronze medal at the London 2012 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament.

While Canada did not take part in the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship, the Canucks have kept competitive through a series of Women’s International Friendly matches against nations like USA, Germa-ny and Japan. In Winnipeg on 28 May 2014, Canada posted a 1:1 draw against their CON-CACAF rivals USA in front of 28,255.

From 129 competing nations, Canada was the only nation to skip to qualifying stage.

STRENGTHS & STYLECanada will rely on several experienced players to take the hosts far in the tournament, though with a vast majority of the squad competing in the National Women’s Soccer League, even the younger players look ready to contribute.

Christine Sinclair will likely be Canada’s main attacking threat up front, as she has been since breaking onto the scene at the inaugural FIFA

FIFA.com/Canada2015Canada qualified as the

host nation

“A” INTERNATIONALS (CAN)2014* 4-2-5 2013 7-4-6

2012 14-1-7 2011 14-4-6

2010 13-3-2 2009 2-1-4 * 2

014 t

otals

throu

gh 30

Nove

mber

2014

U-19 Women’s World Championship Canada 2002 where she took home adidas Golden Ball and adidas Golden Shoe honours. The longtime Canadian captain will also have support from attack-minded NWSL stars like Diana Mathe-son, Sophie Schmidt and Melissa Tancredi. Oth-er key players include Kaylyn Kyle and Desiree Scott (who spent the 2014 season in England).

On the backline, Canada’s new superstar is teenaged centre back Kadeisha Buchanan, who was named a tournament all-star at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014. For the last line of defence, meanwhile, Herdman and his staff have three potential number-one goal-keepers in Stephanie Labbé, Karina LeBlanc, and Erin McLeod.

Since 1995, Canada has participated in every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, with their best finish fourth place at USA 2003 after reaching the semi-final phase.

Canada has won a bronze medal at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament (at London 2012) as well as a silver medal at the FIFA U-19 Wom-en’s World Championship (at Canada 2002).

CANADA’S 6TH FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALISTFIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ HOST NATION




CHINA PR HAOWEI

FOOTBALL COACH

Named China PR’s national coach in December 2011... previously served as assistant coach... won a bronze medal at the 2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup... as a footballer, made five international appearances for China PR... a Chinese League and Cup winner.

Chinese Football AssociationPresident: Cai ZhenhuaGeneral Secretary: Zhang JianFoundation year: 1924

Website: www.fa.org.cnLanguages: ChineseMedia Officer: Dong HuaEmail: [email protected]

Zhonghua Renmin GongheguoCapital: BeijingFIFA Trigramme: CHNFIFA affiliation since: 1931/1980


BORN 1976-12-27, SHANDONG, CHN

CHINESE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

CHINA PR WNT SINCE 2011


FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015 BEST FINISH 2ND PLACE IN 1999


CHINA PR PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

AFCCHAMPIONS

SUN WEN & CHINA PR REACHED

THE USA 1999 FINAL, ONLY FALLING ON

KICKS FROM THE PENALTY MARK

CHINA PR FINISHED FOURTH AT SWEDEN 1995 AND THEN SECOND AT

THE 1996 OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT

8X1999 2ND PLACE

1986, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2006

ROAD TO CANADAThe Asian qualifiers for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ proved to be a redemptive campaign for China PR, who missed a place in the global showpiece at Germany 2011 for the first time in history. The eight-time champions opened the 2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup with a 7:0 rout of Thailand, followed by a 3:0 win over Myan-mar during the group phase in Vietnam. With a spot already secured in the semi-fi-nals, China PR finished group play with a goalless draw against Korea Republic.

With their qualifying mission completed, the Steel Roses switched their sights to the con-tinental champions, but their hopes were shattered in a 1:2 loss to Japan in the dying moments of extra time. Despite the setback, the Chinese went on to edge out Korea Republic in the match for third place, with Yang Li scoring the winner shortly before the final whistle.

STRENGTHS & STYLEThe current squad are youthful with the majority of players born after 1990. Although there are no headline names or legendary figures - yet - coach Hao Wei’s new-look China PR are strong



“A” INTERNATIONALS (CHN)2014* 13-4-6 2013 4-1-9

2012 5-2-10 2011 5-4-9

2010 9-4-9 2009 11-4-4

2014-05-15 CHN 7:0 THA 2014-05-17 CHN 3:0 MYA 2014-05-19 CHN 0:0 KOR

2014-05-22 JPN 2:1 CHN a.e.t. 2014-05-25 CHN 2:1 KOR

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14

as a unit. For the first time since 2009, China PR posted more than 10 wins in international competition (including the three wins at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup).

Having spent the past three years playing and training together, the team enjoy a feel of unity and understanding. They are used to a rather defensive strategy and usually keep strong op-

ponents at bay through their exceptional physi-cal capacity. Then the team can counter-attack relying on the pace and goal-scoring ability of Ma Jun and Yang Li, both of whom have made a name for themselves in Korea Republic.

Among the younger generation is midfielder Zhu Beiyan who helped Shanghai win the 2014 Chinese Women’s National League title.

With the exception of 2011, China PR has par-ticipated in every other edition of the FIFA Wom-en’s World Cup™, winning a silver medal at USA 1999 (losing on kicks from the penalty mark).

China PR has also won a silver medal at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament (1996) and back-to-back FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups (2004 and 2006).

CHINA PR’S 6TH FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2014 AFC WOMEN’S ASIAN CUP THIRD PLACE




COLOMBIA FELIPETABORDA

FOOTBALL COACH

Fabián Felipe Taborda Torres... named Colombia’s national coach in October 2012... coached Colombia at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Azerbaijan 2012... coached Colombia to second place in the 2014 Copa América (undefeated in seven matches).

Federación Colombiana de FútbolPresident: Luis BedoyaGeneral Secretary: Celina SierraFoundation year: 1924

Website: www.fcf.com.coLanguages: SpanishMedia Officer: Juan Felipe MejiaEmail: [email protected]

Name: Republica de ColombiaCapital: BogotáFIFA Trigramme: COLFIFA affiliation since: 1936


BORN 1978-09-19, PALMIRA, COL

FEDERACIÓN COLOMBIANA DE FÚTBOL

COLOMBIA WNT SINCE 2012



2011, 2015 BEST FINISH 14TH PLACE IN 2011


COLOMBIA PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

COLOMBIA CLOSED OFF THEIR FIRST TRIP TO

THE FINALS WITH A 0:0 DRAW AGAINST

KOREA DPR@FCFSeleccionCOL@MiSeleccion_

2011 1ST FINALS

ROAD TO CANADAIt was certainly a 2014 Copa América Fe-menina to remember for Colombia, who stormed through their group by claiming four wins from four games. Although draws in the final phase against Argentina and Brazil meant that had to content themselves with a runners-up finish for the second Copa in a row, Las Cafeteras can be proud of a tournament in which they were the only un-beaten side and, spanning both phases, picked up 17 points from seven games.

This tally was one more than eventual winners Brazil, as A Seleção took the title thanks to their superior record in the deci-sive final stage. The competition final ended with a 0:0 draw between the two sides.

STRENGTHS & STYLEAttacking midfielder Yoreli Rincón reinforced her status as Las Cafeteras’ footballing spearhead at the Copa América, with the gifted creator pulling her team’s strings with aplomb – as she has done for some time now – and finishing as Colombia’s three-goal leading scorer.

Already boasting a wealth of experience de-spite still being only 21, Rincón’s subsequent selection as player of the tournament was no doubt helped by the solid structure put in place alongside her, with goalkeeper Sandra Sepúlve-da, defenders Nataly Arias and Natalia Gaitán, midfielder Diana Ospina and forward Lady Andrade particularly outstanding. All of these players will be expected to take a leading role for a country that has already taken part in one

FIFA.com/Canada20152014 5W - 2D - 0L Qualified on 26 September 2014

“A” INTERNATIONALS (COL)2014* 9-3-3 2013 0-0-0

2012 0-0-6 2011 3-2-8

2010 6-4-3 2009 4-0-0

2014-09-13 COL 4:0 URU 2014-09-15 COL 4:1 VEN 2014-09-17 ECU 0:1 COL 2014-09-19 COL 1:0 PER

2014-09-24 COL 0:0 ARG 2014-09-26 COL 2:1 ECU 2014-09-28 COL 0:0 BRA

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14

FIFA Women’s World Cup™ four years earlier at Germany 2011.

Colombia’s collective strength is drawn from both a resilient backline and a varied attack. Las Cafeteras finished the 2014 Copa América Femenina with the competition’s best defensive record (two goals conceded), with Sepúlveda

earning honours as the competition’s top goal-keeper.

Colombia’s 12 goals scored were shared be-tween no fewer than eight different players, with the team finding the back of the net in five of seven matches (all except for a pair of 0:0 draws against Argentina and Brazil).

Colombia made their FIFA Women’s World Cup™ debut in 2011, followed by their debut at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament just one year later.

Colombia have also participated at one FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup (fourth place in 2010) and three FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cups (2008, 2012 and 2014).

COLOMBIA’S 2ND FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2014 COPA AMÉRICA FEMENINA RUNNERS UP




COSTA RICA GARABETAVEDISSIÁN

FOOTBALL COACH

Carlos Garabet Avedissián Derdjian... named Costa Rica’s national coach on 24 May 2013... coached Costa Rica at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014... previ-ously served as head coach of Puerto Rico’s women’s national and youth teams.

Federación Costarricense de FútbolPresident: Eduardo LiGeneral Secretary: Rafael VargasFoundation year: 1921

Website: www.fedefutbol.comLanguages: SpanishMedia Officer: Cristin WilliamsEmail: [email protected]

Name: Republica de Costa RicaCapital: San JoséFIFA Trigramme: CRCFIFA affiliation since: 1927


BORN 1959-09-07, MONTEVIDEO, URU

FEDERACIÓN COSTARRICENSE DE FÚTBOL

COSTA RICA WNT SINCE 2013



FIRST FINALS IN 2015 2X FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2X FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

COSTA RICA PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

DINNIA DÍAZ MADE THREE SAVES ON KICKS

FROM THE PENALTY MARK TO HELP

COSTA RICA QUALIFY

@FEDEFUTBOL

2015 FIRST FINALS

COSTA RICA HOSTED THE FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP IN 2014

ROAD TO CANADAOne name has become synonymous with Costa Rica’s feat of qualifying for the tour-nament for the first time: Dinnia Díaz. The goalkeeper’s heroics earned her side victory in the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Champi-onship semi-final against Trinidad and To-bago and, in the process, clinched a spot for Las Ticas at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™. Not even a defeat to USA in the CONCACAF final was enough to rain on the national team’s parade.

The achievement was a fitting way to cap what has been a booming last year or so for Costa Rican football, particularly on the women’s side, as evidenced by a hat-trick of wins over Mexico, Jamaica and Martinique in group-stage action prior to that decisive last-four encounter.

STRENGTHS & STYLEParis Saint-Germain’s Shirley Cruz is a tal-ismanic figure within Costa Rican football. The 29-year-old midfielder is the leader of the dressing room alongside the younger Katherine Alvarado. Their experience provide a counter-

point to the recent injection of young blood into the squad, embodied by the likes of wunderkind Gloriana Villalobos and Melissa Herrera. The country hosting the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2014 helped kindle the emer-gence of up-and-coming prospects and gave them some crucial early international exposure to further their development.

The promising performances at Costa Rica 2014 on home turf were echoed at the FIFA U-20



“A” INTERNATIONALS (CRC)2014* 9-1-2 2013 5-0-0

2012 3-0-4 2011 4-1-4

2010 4-0-3 2009 0-0-0

2014-05-22 SLV 0:4 CRC 2014-05-24 CRC 3:0 NCA 2014-05-26 GUA 0:3 CRC 2014-10-16 CRC 1:0 MEX

2014-10-18 CRC 2:1 JAM 2014-10-24 CRC 1:1 TRI a.e.t. 2014-10-26 CRC 0:6 USA

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14

Women’s World Cup Canada 2014. This was an ideal testing ground in which to work on a new tactical approach that is also being instilled in the national team: a well-drilled 4-3-3 forma-tion featuring a high-energy pressing game.

At the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Champion-ship, both centre midfielder Cruz and right back Diana Sáenz were named to the tournament’s

Bext XI. Forwards Carolina Venegas and Lixy Rodríguez were the country’s top scorers in the CONCACAF Women’s Championship, with the duo scoring seven of the team’s 10 goals.

At the domestic level, more than half a dozen national players helped CD Saprissa win the UNIFFUT Torneo Apertura, including the tourna-ment’s top scorer Venegas.

Canada 2015 will mark Costa Rica’s first par-ticipation in a FIFA Women’s World Cup™ finals, with Las Ticas in fact finishing second at the CONCACAF Women’s Championship.

Costa Rica have previously appeared at two FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups and two FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cups, albeit never progressing beyong the group phase.

COSTA RICA’S 1ST FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2014 CONCACAF WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP RUNNERS UP




CÔTE D’IVOIRE CLÉMENTINETOURÉ

FOOTBALL COACH

Touré Natogoma Clémentine... named Côte d’Ivoire’s national coach on 23 February 2010... previously served as an assistant coach with Equatorial Guinea... as staff, helped Equatorial Guinea win the 2008 African Women’s Championship.

Fédération Ivoirienne de FootballPresident: Augustin DialloGeneral Secretary: Paul Abba MobioFoundation year: 1960

Website: www.fif-ci.comLanguages: FrenchMedia Officer: Ives TiemeleEmail: [email protected]

Name: République de Côte d’IvoireCapital: YamoussoukroFIFA Trigramme: CIVFIFA affiliation since: 1964


BORN 1977-03-21, FERKÉ, CIV

FÉDÉRATION IVOIRIENNE DE FOOTBALL

CÔTE D’IVOIRE WNT SINCE 2010




CÔTE D’IVOIRE PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

REBECCA IDA SCORED THE WINNING GOAL THAT QUALIFIED

HER NATION FOR CANADA 2015

@FIFCI_Tweets

2015 1ST FINALS

CÔTE D’IVOIRE ELIMINATED 2010 CAF CHAMPIONS EQUATORIAL GUINEA

DURING CANADA 2015 QUALIFIERS

ROAD TO CANADAThe African Women’s Championship in Na-mibia was only the second time in the his-tory of the competition that Côte d’Ivoire qualified for the showpiece event of wom-en’s continental football. Les Éléphantes stunned holders Equatorial Guinea in the qualifying rounds, advancing on the away goal rule after draws 1:1 at home and 2:2 away. But unlike their first appearance in Equatorial Guinea in 2012, the west Afri-cans managed to escape the group phase this time around.

A victory against the hosts Namibia, a draw against Zambia and a defeat against Ni-geria were good enough to see Clémentine Touré’s side finish second in the group be-hind the Nigerians. They were then beaten in extra time by Cameroon before facing South Af-rica in the all-important play-off for third place, with the winner booking the final place for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™. After Banyana Banyana dominated from the start of match but failed to score, the Ivorians snatched a victory through Rebecca Ida’s late goal just minutes from the final whistle.

STRENGTHS & STYLEUnlike Africa’s two other finalists for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ – Cameroon and Nigeria – Côte d’Ivoire does not have any notable star players on first glance. Coach Touré has built the team’s success through team effort rather than individual skill. A perfect example of team resilience was show-



“A” INTERNATIONALS (CIV)2014* 6-3-3 2013 0-0-0

2012 7-0-2 2011 0-0-0

2010 2-0-2 2009 0-0-0

2014-02-15 CIV 4:0 MLI 2014-02-28 MLI 0:1 CIV 2014-05-23 CIV 1:1 EQG 2014-06-07 EQG 2:2 CIV 2014-10-11 NGA 4:2 CIV

2014-10-14 CIV 3:1 NAM 2014-10-17 ZAM 1:1 CIV 2014-10-22 CMR 2:1 CIV a.e.t. 2014-10-25 RSA 0:1 CIV

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14

cased after Les Éléphantes rebounded from a disappointing semi-final loss to withstand a barrage of South African attacks before winning in the dying moments.

The majority of Touré’s squad play their club football in their home country, with only a few serving as excpetions. Amari Esmei Cecile and Marie Claire Yassi have both played in Morocco.

José Nahi and N’Réhy Tia have both played in Serbia as well as in UEFA Women’s Champions League. During the African Women’s Champion-ship, Nahi wore the captain’s armband.

As for domestic heroes, several national team players ply their trade for league winners Juven-tus Yopougon, including experienced fullback Djelika Coulibaly.

Canada 2015 will mark Côte d’Ivoire’s first par-ticipation in a FIFA Women’s World Cup™ finals, with Les Éléphantes claiming Africa’s third and final spot through the continental qualifiers.

Twenty-seven years earlier, Côte d’Ivoire were the lone African nation that participated at the 1988 Women’s International Tournament (they finished 11th out of 12 nations).

CÔTE D’IVOIRE’S 1ST FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2014 AFRICAN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP THIRD PLACE




ECUADOR VANESSAARAUZ

FOOTBALL COACH

Vanessa Arauz León... named Ecuador’s national coach in August 2014... helped Ecuador finish third at the Copa América... has also served as coach of Ecuador’s women’s youth teams... earned her coaching degree at the Instituto Tecnológico Superior del Fútbol.

Federación Ecuatoriana de FútbolPresident: Luis ChiribogaGeneral Secretary: Francisco AcostaFoundation year: 1925

Website: www.ecuafutbol.orgLanguages: SpanishMedia Officer: Victor MestanzaEmail: [email protected]

Name: Republica del EcuadorCapital: QuitoFIFA Trigramme: ECUFIFA affiliation since: 1926

FIFA Big Count:Footballers: 1,029,655Registered: 30,855Unregistered : 998,800

BORN 1989-02-05, QUITO, ECU

FEDERACIÓN ECUATORIANA DE FÚTBOL

ECUADOR WNT SINCE 2014




ECUADOR PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

MÓNICA QUINTEROS SCORED THE HISTORIC

WINNER TO QUALIFY ECUADOR IN

DECEMBER 2014

@FEFEcuador

2015 1ST FINALS

THE COPA AMÉRICA HOSTS WERE ON THE VERGE OF ELIMINATION BEFORE THEY REVERSED AN 0-2 SCORELINE INTO A 3:2 WIN IN SEPTEMBER 2014

ROAD TO CANADAVictories over Peru (1:0) and Venezuela (1:0) saw Ecuador advance through the group stages of the women’s Copa América in sec-ond place - despite losing to Colombia (0:1) and Uruguay (1:2) - edging out the latter on goal difference by a single strike.

In the four-team final phase, the hosts Ec-uador succumbed to Colombia again (1:2) and were beaten by Brazil (0:4), but came from 0-2 down to prevail 3:2 against Ar-gentina to finish in third place. Despite not drawing any of their games and scoring only seven times in as many matches, La Tricolor earned an international play-off place.

The two-leg playoff series with Trinidad and Tobago started with a 0:0 draw in Quito, with 20,000 Ecuadorians out to support their home team on 8 November.

Nearly a month later on 2 December in Port of Spain, Ecuador pulled off a 1:0 away win to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™. Striker Mónica Quinteros - who missed the Copa América because of school commit-ments - scored the winner in the 90th minute.

STRENGTHS & STYLE“Nothing will stop us” was the slogan used for motivation by Ecuador, a team with sufficient personality and conviction to soak up the pres-sure of first playing at home in South American qualifying, then later winning a FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ spot via the play-offs on the road (their only road game in the qualifying stage).

FIFA.com/Canada20152014 4W - 1D - 4L Qualified on 2 December 2014

“A” INTERNATIONALS (ECU)2014* 5-1-4 2013 0-0-0

2012 0-0-0 2011 0-0-0

2010 3-0-1 2009 3-0-1

2014-09-11 ECU 1:0 PER 2014-09-13 ECU 1:0 VEN 2014-09-17 ECU 0:1 COL 2014-09-19 ECU 1:2 URU 2014-09-24 BRA 4:0 ECU

2014-09-26 COL 2:1 ECU 2014-09-28 ARG 2:3 ECU 2014-11-08 ECU 0:0 TRI 2014-12-02 TRI 0:1 ECU

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

2 De

cemb

er 20

14

The team’s main attributes are dedication, op-portunism and unflinching tactical discipline. Those characteristics have allowed them to build a flexible but solid backbone, no matter which names are included in the first XI.

In a group of footballers of similar talents and developed almost exclusively at home, several individuals stand out, including goalkeeper

Shirley Berruz, defenders Nancy Aguilar and Ingrid Rodríguez, midfielders Andrea Dennise Pesántez and Ámbar Torres and forwards Gi-annina Lattanzio and Mónica Quinteros.

At the domestic level, Rocafuerte FC of Guay-aquil has won the championship in both years since the competition was restructured in 2013, winning their second title in August 2014.

Canada 2015 will mark Ecuador’s first partic-ipation in a FIFA Women’s World Cup™ finals, with La Tri winning the CONCACAF-CONMEBOL playoff series on 2 December 2014.

Ecuador is in fact the only 2015 finalist to have never previously featured in a major FIFA or Olympic women’s tournament. Ecuador did par-ticipate at the Rio 2007 Pan American Games.

ECUADOR’S 1ST FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2014 CONCACAF-CONMBEOL PLAYOFF WINNERS



ENGLAND

The Football Association Ltd.President: Greg DykeGeneral Secretary: Alex HorneFoundation year: 1863

Website: www.thefa.comLanguages: EnglishMedia Officer: Catherine StewartEmail: [email protected]

Official Name: EnglandCapital: LondonFIFA Trigramme: ENGFIFA affiliation since: 1905


THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION LTD.FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™

1995, 2007, 2011, 2015 BEST FINISH 7TH PLACE IN 2011

4X FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 1X FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

ENGLAND PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

AFTER A 2:0 WIN OVER EVENTUAL CHAMPIONS

JAPAN, ENGLAND WERE ELIMINATED IN

THE QUARTERS

@FA @England

2011 QUARTERS


MARKSAMPSON

FOOTBALL COACH

Named England’s national coach on 6 December 2013... previously served as head coach of Bristol Academy Women’s FC... helped Bristol Academy reach the FA Women’s Cup final in 2011... earned his UEFA A Coaching Licence in 2007.

BORN 1982-10-18, CARDIFF CITY, WAL

ENGLAND WNT SINCE 2013


ROAD TO CANADAIt was a perfect ten for England on the road to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™, as they won all of their qualifying matches against Ukraine, Wales, Turkey, Belarus and Montenegro, despite changing coaches four games into the campaign. In total they scored 52 goals, with Eniola Aluko netting a quarter of them for a team-best 13 goals. Toni Duggan also hit double digits with 10 goals of her own.

England were also one of just three European nations to concede only once in the qualifying stage (along with Sweden and Switzerland). Runners up Ukraine broke England’s streak in the eighth qualifying match in June, a narrow England 2:1 win.

Two months later in England’s ninth match on 21 August 2014, the Three Lionesses booked their spot with a win in Cardiff, Wales, which incidentally is the hometown of England coach Mark Sampson. The young Sampson assumed the role as England coach in December 2013 after dismissed coach Hope Powell won the four qualifying matches in September and October.

STRENGTHS & STYLEExpect to see a new-look England to the one which played at Germany 2011, as the likes of Alex Greenwood, Demi Stokes and Lizzie Durack were all handed their first caps in qualifying, while Lianne Sanderson and Jo Potter were in-vited in from the international wilderness. As well as the youngsters, England may have sea-

FIFA.com/Canada20152013-14 10W - 0D - 0L

Qualified on 21 August 2014

“A” INTERNATIONALS (ENG)2014* 10-1-2 2013 8-3-3

2012 6-1-2 2011 8-4-3

2010 9-4-1 2009 11-3-3

2013-09-21 ENG 6:0 BLR 2013-09-26 ENG 8:0 TUR 2013-10-26 ENG 2:0 WAL 2013-10-31 TUR 0:4 ENG 2014-04-05 ENG 9:0 MNE

2014-05-08 ENG 4:0 UKR 2014-06-14 BLR 0:3 ENG 2014-06-19 UKR 1:2 ENG 2014-08-21 WAL 0:4 ENG 2014-09-17 MNE 0:10 ENG

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14

soned pros in the ranks with Alex Scott, Fara Williams and Kelly Smith all boasting over 100 caps.

This is a dynamic England team with plenty of pace and power going forward. Players like Toni Duggan are capable of creating a moment of magic out of nothing. The young star is a recent England Women’s Under-23 Player of the Year.

Another young star is Lucy Bronze, who led Liv-erpool to a FA Women’s Super League title.

The blend is working well, with coach Sampson delighted at how his team have embraced his new ideas. The coach has been credited with bringing a technical and creative side to the team’s play, while encouraging a club-style en-vironment off the pitch.

After an inaugural appearance at Sweden 1995, England have now participated at three con-secutive FIFA Women’s World Cup™ finals since China PR 2007.

England have also participated at four FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups and one FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup (a fourth-place finish at the first tournament at New Zealand 2008).

ENGLAND’S 4TH FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2013-14 UEFA GROUP 6 WINNERS



FRANCE

FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ 2003, 2011, 2015

BEST FINISH 4TH PLACE IN 2011 1X WOMEN’S OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT 5X FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2X FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

FRANCE PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

FRANCE REACHED THE SEMI-FINALS AT

GERMANY 2011 BEFORE FINISHING IN FOURTH PLACE

@FFF @EquipedeFrance

2011 4TH PLACE

ROAD TO CANADAIt would not be an exaggeration to say that France strolled through their qualifying campaign while securing a third appear-ance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, winning all ten of their Group 7 encounters, scoring 54 goals and conceding just three.

Although the expansion from 16 to 24 fi-nalists ahead of Canada 2015 may well have worked in their favour, there is still no doubting Les Bleues’ growing level of expe-rience and talent.

France qualified in their penultimate match, closing out their group phase with an away-and-home series against Finland (who could have technically leapfrogged the leaders in those two matches). France booked its Canada 2015 ticket with a 2:0 away win in Vantaa on 13 September, with Louisa Necib and Gaëtane Thiney scoring in the victory.

STRENGTHS & STYLEBoasting a strike force that includes the top scorer (Thiney, 13 goals) and the assists’ leader (Necib, 13 assists) from the European qualifi-

ers, as well as a steely defence marshalled by Laura Georges and the influential Wendie Re-nard, France are no longer simply regarded as a team capable of upsetting the favourites – they are now major contenders themselves.

Further evidence for this elevated status was provided in October 2014, when they achieved their first-ever victory over two-time FIFA

FIFA.com/Canada20152013-14 10W - 0D - 0L Qualified on 13 September 2014

“A” INTERNATIONALS (FRA)2014* 13-3-1 2013 11-5-1

2012 15-3-3 2011 14-2-4

2010 10-1-0 2009 11-4-2

2013-09-25 KAZ 0:4 FRA 2013-10-31 AUT 1:3 FRA 2013-11-23 BUL 0:10 FRA 2013-11-28 FRA 14:0 BUL 2014-04-05 FRA 7:0 KAZ

2014-04-09 FRA 3:1 AUT 2014-05-07 FRA 4:0 HUN 2014-08-20 HUN 0:4 FRA 2014-09-13 FIN 0:2 FRA 2014-09-17 FRA 3:1 FIN

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14

Fédération Française de FootballPresident: Noël Le GraëtGeneral Secretary: Brigitte HenriquesFoundation year: 1919

Website: www.fff.frLanguages: FrenchMedia Officer: Stéphane LanoueEmail: [email protected]

Official Name: FranceCapital: ParisFIFA Trigramme: FRAFIFA affiliation since: 1904


FÉDÉRATION FRANÇAISE DE FOOTBALL


PHILIPPEBERGERÔO

FOOTBALL COACH

Named France’s national coach on 30 July 2013... previously worked in national men’s youth program... as an assistant coach with France, won the 1998 FIFA World Cup™... as a goalkeeper, he was a 1984 UEFA champion and 1986 FIFA World Cup™ participant.

BORN 1954-01-13, CIBOURNE, FRA

FRANCE WNT SINCE 2013


Women’s World Cup™ champions Germany with a 2:0 triumph in Offenbach.

The key players from the side that reached the semi-finals of both the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011™ and the London 2012 Wom-en’s Olympic Football Tournament have now matured, safe in the knowledge that the baton can be handed on to young starlets such as

Griedge Mbock Bathy, Claire Lavogez and Sand-ie Toletti.

These promising players earned their spurs at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Azerbaijan 2012, where the French emerged victorious (with Mbock Bathy winning the adidas Golden Ball). Two years later, they finished third at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014.

France followed a fourth-place finish at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011™ with a fourth-place finish at the London 2012 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament.

At the youth level, France won the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Azerbaijan 2012, then fin-ished third at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014.

FRANCE’S 3RD FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2013-14 UEFA GROUP 7 WINNERS



ROAD TO CANADAGermany romped through their qualifying campaign for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™, winning all ten of their matches in Group 1. Furthermore, the eight-time European champions booked their ticket to the tournament by scoring an im-pressive 62 goals and conceding just four. No other European side managed to hit the target as often.

Silvia Neid’s side has now won all of their qualifying matches en route to two editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ - both China PR 2007 and Canada 2015. As hosts, Germany skipped the qualifying stage ahead of Germany 2011.

In FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ Qualifiers, Anja Mittag was Germany’s top goal-scorer with 11 goals while Célia Šašic was sec-ond with nine.

STRENGTHS & STYLEGermany have found the perfect blend of experi-enced veterans and talented youngsters, as was

GERMANY

FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 BEST FINISH 1ST PLACE 2003 & 2007 4X WOMEN’S OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT 7X FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 4X FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

GERMANY PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

UEFACHAMPIONS

BIRGIT PRINZ LED GERMANY TO

BACK-TO-BACK WORLD TITLES IN

2003 AND 2007

2X WORLD CHAMPS

@DFB_Frauen

8X2007 CHAMPIONS

1989, 1991, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013


“A” INTERNATIONALS (GER)2014* 12-0-1 2013 14-4-2

2012 10-3-0 2011 11-1-1

2010 7-0-2 2009 10-3-3

2013-09-21 GER 9:0 RUS 2013-10-26 SVN 0:13 GER 2013-10-30 GER 4:0 CRO 2013-11-23 SVK 0:6 GER 2013-11-27 CRO 0:8 GER

2014-04-05 IRL 2:3 GER 2014-04-10 GER 4:0 SVN 2014-05-08 GER 9:1 SVK 2014-09-13 RUS 1:4 GER 2014-09-17 GER 2:0 IRL

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14


SILVIANEID

FOOTBALL COACH

Named Germany’s national coach on 20 June 2005... won the FIFA Women’s World Cup China PR 2007™... a two-time winner of FIFA World Coach for Women’s Football... as a footballer, a three-time UEFA champion and a FIFA Women’s World Cup™ silver medalist.

Deutscher Fussball-BundPresident: Wolgang NiersbachGeneral Secretary: Helmut SandrockFoundation year: 1900

Website: www.dfb.deLanguages: German, EnglishMedia Officer: Annette SeitzEmail: [email protected]

Name: Bundesrepublik DeutschlandCapital: BerlinFIFA Trigramme: GERFIFA affiliation since: 1904


BORN 1964-05-02, WALLDÜRN, GER

DEUTSCHER FUSSBALL-BUND

GERMANY WNT SINCE 2005


evident at the UEFA Women’s EURO 2013. Neid was forced to find replacements for six first-team regulars at the tournament but the side still went on to be crowned continental queens.

Increasing numbers of new players are still being introduced into the squad with great success. Not only do well-known stars such as Mittag, Šašic and 2013 FIFA Women’s World

Player of the Year Nadine Angerer provide a sol-id backbone to the team, they allow youngsters like Tabea Kemme and Sara Däbritz to benefit from their experience.

Šašic and Angerer were both UEFA Women’s EURO 2013 all-stars, along with Saskia Bartu-siak, Lena Goeßling, Annike Krahn and attack-ing star Dzsenifer Marozsán.

Germany have participated at every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, finished second at Sweden 1995 and then first at both USA 2003 and China PR 2007.

Germany have also won six medals at the bi-ennial FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, including victories at Thailand 2004 (with coach Silvia Neid), Germany 2010 and Canada 2014.

GERMANY’S 7TH FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2013-14 UEFA GROUP 1 WINNERS



JAPAN


BEST FINISH 1ST PLACE IN 2011 4X WOMEN’S OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT 4X FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 4X FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

JAPAN PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

AFCCHAMPIONS

@JFA @JFA_Nadeshiko

1X2011 CHAMPIONS

2014

HOMARE SAWA LED JAPAN TO A WORLD TITLE AT GERMANY 2011

JAPAN FINISHED 4TH AT BEIJING 2008

& 2ND AT LONDON 2012

ROAD TO CANADAThough crowned FIFA Women’s World Cup™ champions four years ago at Germany 2011, Japan had never won the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. That finally changed in May 2014 as Japan secured two tight wins to end the eight-nation tournament as victors. The Na-deshiko enjoyed comfortable wins over Jor-dan and Vietnam in the group stage, while also drawing 2:2 against holders Australia. Through to the semi-finals, Japan was qual-ified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canas-da 2015™.

Japan then edged China PR 2:1 after extra time in the semi-final, with centre back Azu-sa Iwashimizu scoring the dramatic winner on a header just moments before the final whis-tle. Japan then followed up with a hard-fought 1:0 win in the final against Australia, with Iwashimizu again scoring the winner in the Jap-anese victory.

STRENGTHS & STYLEJapan’s breakthrough FIFA Women’s World Cup™ win at Germany 2011 was based around teamwork, short-passing and technical excel-lence. It is a methodology that remains a cor-



“A” INTERNATIONALS (JPN)2014* 14-3-2 2013 5-3-4

2012 9-3-4 2011 11-4-4

2010 15-2-1 2009 2-1-0

2014-05-14 AUS 2:2 JPN 2014-05-16 VIE 0:4 JPN 2014-05-18 JPN 7:0 JOR

2014-05-22 JPN 2:1 CHN a.e.t. 2014-05-25 JPN 1:0 AUS

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14


NORIOSASAKI

FOOTBALL COACH

Named national coach on 7 December 2007... helped Japan win the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011™... finished second at the London 2012 Olympic Tournament... won FIFA World Coach for Women’s Football in 2011... won the 2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup.

Japan Football AssociationPresident: Kuniya DainiGeneral Secretary: Hiromi HaraFoundation year: 1921

Website: www.jfa.jpLanguages: Japanese, EnglishMedia Officer: Satomi TanekuraEmail: [email protected]

Official Name: Nihon KokuCapital: TokyoFIFA Trigramme: JPNFIFA affiliation since: 1929


BORN 1958-05-24, YAMAGATA, JPN

JAPAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

JAPAN WNT SINCE 2007

2ND FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS HEAD COACH

nerstone of their game and is in keeping with the Nadeshiko Vision, Japan’s blueprint for women’s football development. Japan rely on teamwork and unity, but also boast both depth and quality in attack and in creative midfield roles. Despite often being inferior physically to some of their opponents, few can outscore Ja-pan for resilience and commitment.

One of Japan’s midfield stars is Aya Miyama, a two-time AFC Women’s Player of the Year (2011, 2012) and Most Valuable Player of the 2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup. Another is Nahomi Kawasumi, a two-time L.League Best Player (2011, 2013). Both Miyama and Kawasumi were top-10 nominees for the 2014 FIFA Women’s World Player award.

Japan have participated at every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, winning gold at Germany 2011. Japan won silver at the London 2012 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament.

At the youth level, Japan have won three med-als: bronze at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup (at Japan 2012) and both silver and gold at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup (2010 and 2014).

JAPAN’S 7TH FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2014 AFC WOMEN’S ASIAN CUP WINNERS



KOREA REPUBLIC


2003, 2015 BEST FINISH 14TH PLACE IN 2003

4X FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2X FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

KOREA PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

KIM JIN-HEE SCORED

KOREA REPUBLIC’S LONE GOAL

AT USA 2003@theKFA

2003 1ST FINALS

ROAD TO CANADAKorea Republic booked passage to their second FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in 12 years, this time finishing fourth at the 2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Vietnam. Pitted against China PR, Thailand and Myanmar in Group B, the Taeguk Ladies opened their qualifying campaign with a 12:0 demolition of Myanmar with both Jeon Gaeul and Cho Sohyun recording hat tricks. Park Eunsun then struck three times and set up another as the Koreans beat the Thais 4:0 to claim their ticket to FIFA Women’s World Cup Can-ada 2015™.

Although a goalless draw with China PR was enough for them to top their group on goal difference, defending champions Australia proved too strong for the women in red as they lost 1:2 in the semi-finals. They subsequently lost the third-place play-off by the same score-line against China PR.

STRENGTHS & STYLEThe Koreans boast one of the most formidable attacking lines in the continent, led by prolific

striker Park Eunsun who won the golden boot with six goals at Vietnam 2014. Park was just 16 years old when she made her FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in 2003, one year before she took part in the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Champion-ship Thailand 2004.

Ji Soyun is another key player on the Korea at-tack. Since making her debut at age 15 in 2006 (with a goal), she has been one of her country’s best players. At the youth level, she helped Ko-



“A” INTERNATIONALS (KOR)2014* 12-4-3 2013 4-1-8

2012 3-3-1 2011 3-3-4

2010 6-4-4 2009 5-0-1

2014-05-15 MYA 0:12 KOR 2014-05-17 KOR 4:0 THA 2014-05-19 CHN 0:0 KOR

2014-05-22 KOR 1:2 AUS 2014-05-25 CHN 2:1 KOR

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14

Korea Football AssociationPresident: Chung Mong GyuGeneral Secretary: An Gi HeonFoundation year: 1933

Website: www.kfa.or.krLanguages: Korean, EnglishMedia Officer: Ahn HyojinEmail: [email protected]

Official Name: DaehanmingukCapital: SeoulFIFA Trigramme: KORFIFA affiliation since: 1948


KOREA FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION


YOONDUKYEO

FOOTBALL COACH

Named Korea Republic’s national coach on 27 December 2012... a football coach of more than 20 years... previously led Korea Republic to the men’s FIFA U-17 World Cup Finland 2003... as a footballer, represented Korea Republic at the 1990 FIFA World Cup™ in Italy.

BORN 1961-03-25, SUWON CITY, KOR

KOREA REPUBLIC WNT SINCE 2012


rea Republic win a bronze medal at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Germany 2010, with Ji winning the adidas Silver Ball and adidas Sil-ver Boot. In 2004 at the club level, she won the PFA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year award in England after a terrific season with Chelsea.

Yeo Minji is a little younger, having led Korea Republic to a gold medal at the FIFA U-17 Wom-

en’s World Cup Trinidad and Tobago 2010. That year, Yeo won both the adidas Golden Ball and adidas Golden Boot.

Captain and defensive midfielder Cho Sohyun is the lynchpin of the clockwork organisation, while veteran goalkeeper Kim Jungmi is eyeing her second appearance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ finals.

Korea Republic previously participated at the FIFA Women’s World Cup USA 2003™, finally re-turning to the big tournament 12 years later for Canada 2015.

They have participated at four FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups (including third place in 2010) and two FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cups (including first place in 2010).

KOREA REPUBLIC’S 2ND FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2014 AFC WOMEN’S ASIAN CUP FOURTH PLACE



MEXICO

FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ 1999, 2011, 2015


MEXICO PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

MEXICO POSTED DRAWS AGAINST

ENGLAND & NEW ZEALAND AT

GERMANY 2011@FeMexFutOficial@MiSeleccionMX

2011 2 DRAWS

ROAD TO CANADAMexico had a tough road to secure their place at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™, falling to Costa Rica in the opening match of the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship. Having recovered to get through their group, they were then beaten by USA (who would go on to lift the CONCACAF trophy) in the semi-finals, rele-gating Mexico to scrap it out with Trinidad and Tobago for the third and final automatic qualification spot. Trailing 2-1 with just over ten minutes to go, they equalised and then Veronica Charlyn Corral popped up with an extra-time brace to seal victory and propel herself up to joint third in the competition’s scoring charts with four goals.

STRENGTHS & STYLECoach Leonardo Cuéllar has had more than 15 years to mold the Mexican women’s program, with now back-to-back FIFA Women’s World Cup™ qualifications for the first time.

Numerous Mexico players have either flocked to USA to earn their keep or indeed learned their trade there as a result of their families having

emigrated. On top of that, coaches have often looked north to fish for fresh ideas and methods.

A conscientious effort, however, to nurture Mexi-can women’s youth football has borne fruit with more and more home-grown talent in the pro-gram. Cecilia Santiago, who finally turned 20 in 2014, has featured in a record four FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups. She shares goalkeeper duties at the national level with Pamela Tajonar and was a 2014 Liga Mayor winner with Garzas de la UAE.



“A” INTERNATIONALS (MEX)2014* 7-1-6 2013 2-1-5

2012 4-0-7 2011 8-6-6

2010 4-0-11 2009 5-0-3

2014-10-16 CRC 1:0 MEX 2014-10-21 MEX 3:1 JAM 2014-10-24 USA 3:0 MEX

2014-10-26 TRI 2:4 MEX a.e.t.

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14


LEONARDOCUÉLLAR

FOOTBALL COACH

Leonardo Cuéllar Rivera... named Mexico’s national coach in 1998... led Mexico to the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in 1999 and 2011... as a footballer, won a CONCACAF Champi-onship in 1977... represented Mexico at the 1978 FIFA World Cup™ in Argentina.

Federación Mexicana de Fútbol AsociaciónPresident: Justino CompeánGeneral Secretary: Fernando CerrillaFoundation year: 1927

Website: www.femexfut.org.mxLanguages: SpanishMedia Officer: Israel MarquezEmail: [email protected]

Name: Estados Unidos MexicanosCapital: MéxicoFIFA Trigramme: MEXFIFA affiliation since: 1929


BORN 1952-01-14, MÉXICO, DF, MEX

FEDERACIÓN MEXICANA DE FÚTBOL ASOCIACIÓN

MEXICO WNT SINCE 1998


Forward Mónica Ocampo is another star in the Mexican program. An NWSL player with Sky Blue FC, she represented Mexico at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Russia 2006.

Veronica Charlyn Corral, who got her first call-up to the national team when she was 13, stands as an icon of the advancement of the local women’s football scene. She was the

lone Mexican named to the Best XI at the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship.

One legend that missed the recent CONCACAF tournament, but still plays a big part in the na-tional program, is striker Maribel Domínguez. A 2014 Liga Mayor winner, she is still best re-membered for her opening strike against USA at the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s Championship.

Mexico will participate in consecutive editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ for the first time, having qualified for Germany 2011 and now Canada 2015.

Mexico has also participated at one Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, six FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups, and three FIFA U-17 Wom-en’s World Cups.

MEXICO’S 3RD FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2014 CONCACAF WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP THIRD PLACE



NETHERLANDSROAD TO CANADAThe Netherlands qualified for their first FIFA Women’s World Cup™ after winning the UEFA playoff in October and November 2014, eliminating European hopefuls Scotland and Italy en route to Canada 2015.

From Group 5 of the 2013-14 European qualifying competition, the Netherlands had cause to rue conceding a late equal-iser to Belgium in their fifth game. In the end, those two dropped points were all that separated the Dutch from section winners Norway. Aside from that draw and an away defeat to the Norwegians, the Oranje Leeu-winnen won all their games in the group, a record that was good enough to give them a place in the play-offs as one of the four best runners-up.

After disposing of Scotland 4-1 on aggre-gate, the Dutch faced Italy in the playoff final, with a 1:1 draw at home in the first leg leaving their hopes hanging in the balance. Viv-ianne Miedema came to the rescue in the return leg, however, scoring both goals in a 2:1 win in Verona that secured the Oranje a place at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™

STRENGTHS & STYLEThough only 18, Vivianne Miedema is the Neth-erlands’ star asset. Having sharpened her fin-ishing skills in the Bundesliga with FC Bayern München, she struck 16 goals in the qualifiers, including all three of her side’s goals in that

FIFA.com/Canada20152013-14 11W - 2D - 1L Qualified on 27 November 2014

“A” INTERNATIONALS (NED)2014* 9-4-2 2013 6-3-6

2012 5-2-5 2011 9-3-3

2010 11-3-3 2009 8-3-8

2013-09-26 ALB 0:4 NED 2013-10-26 POR 0:7 NED 2013-10-30 NED 1:2 NOR 2013-11-23 NED 7:0 GRE 2014-02-12 NED 1:1 BEL 2014-04-05 GRE 0:6 NED 2014-04-10 NED 10:1 ALB

2014-05-07 BEL 0:2 NED 2014-09-13 NED 3:2 POR 2014-09-17 NOR 0:2 NED 2014-10-25 SCO 1:2 NED 2014-10-30 NED 2:0 SCO 2014-11-22 NED 1:1 ITA 2014-11-27 ITA 1:2 NED

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14



NETHERLANDS PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

AFTER FINISHING 2ND IN UEFA GROUP 5,

NETHERLANDS BEAT SCOTLAND AND ITALY

IN THE PLAYOFF

@ONSORANJE@KNVB

2015 1ST FINALS

IN QUALIFIERS, VIVIANNE MIEDEMA SCORED 16 GOALS. THREE OF THEM

WERE AGAINST ITALY IN THE PLAYOFF.


ROGERREIJNERS

FOOTBALL COACH

Named Netherlands national coach on 1 November 2010... coached men’s football clubs MVV Maastricht and Fortuna Sittard in Dutch Eerste Divisie... was previously a midfielder for both Fortuna Sittard and MVV Maastricht... was a Dutch U-21 international.

Koninklijke Nederlandse VoetbalbondPresident: Michael Van PraagGeneral Secretary: Bert Van OostveenFoundation year: 1889

Website: www.knvb.nlLanguages: DutchMedia Officer: Kees JansmaEmail: [email protected]

Name: Koninkrijk der NederlandenCapital: AmsterdamFIFA Trigramme: NEDFIFA affiliation since: 1904

FIFA Big Count:Footballers: 1,745,860Registered: 1,138,860Unregistered : 607,000

BORN 1964-02-10, REMUNJ, NED

KONINKLIJKE NEDERLANDSE VOETBALBOND

NETHERLANDS WNT SINCE 2010


play-off final. Her energy and enterprise is the perfect foil for the experience of Manon Melis, Sherida Spitze, Dyanne Bito and Claudia van den Heiligenberg, who have made more than 400 international appearances between them.

The Dutch have also been reaping the rewards of the 2012 merger between the national cham-pionship and the Belgian league, which led

to the creation of the Women’s BeNe League, comprising the top teams from both countries (including seven from Netherlands in 2014-15).

In building on the third place they achieved at the 2009 UEFA European Women’s Champion-ship and gaining valuable experience on the domestic front, the ambitious Dutch have now muscled their way into the global elite.

Canada 2015 will mark Netherlands’ first par-ticipation in a FIFA Women’s World Cup™ finals, with the Oranje claiming Europe’s eighth and final spot through the continental playoff.

Twenty-seven years earlier, Netherlands was one of 12 teams that participated at the 1988 Women’s International Tournament in China PR (they finished in seventh place).

NETHERLANDS’ 1ST FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2014 UEFA PLAYOFF WINNERS



NEW ZEALAND

FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ 1991, 2007, 2011, 2015


NEW ZEALAND PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

OFCCHAMPIONS

AFTER A PAIR OF 1:2 LOSSES TO

JAPAN & ENGLAND, HANNAH WILKINSON

SCORED AN ADDED-TIME

EQUALISER AGAINST MEXICO IN THEIR 2011 GROUP FINALE

8X2011 1ST POINT

1983, 1991, 1995, 1998, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2014

@NZ_Football

ROAD TO CANADANew Zealand’s journey to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ lasted a mere five days as the Football Ferns topped their four-nation Oceania qualifying tournament, the 2014 OFC Women’s Nations Cup. A per-fect three-match record which accrued 30 goals and saw none conceded suggests it was easy for the Kiwis.

New Zealand did, however, face a hurdle battling oppressive midday heat and a tough opponent in host nation Papua New Guinea before eventually prevailing 3:0 in the pivotal match of the tournament. The score was deadlocked before Rebekah Stott scored the eventual winner in the 59th minute.

Key striker Amber Hearn profited the most in Papua New Guinea, scoring seven goals. At the other end of the field, captain and central defender Abby Erceg became the first player to make 100 appearances for New Zealand.

STRENGTHS & STYLENew Zealand have come a long way on the in-ternational in recent years. It is no coincidence that the quantity of players plying their trade overseas has massively increased during the same period. The side have also enjoyed a strong international program featuring numer-



“A” INTERNATIONALS (NZL)2014* 4-4-8 2013 5-3-3

2012 7-4-5 2011 3-1-8

2010 7-3-3 2009 1-2-5

2014-10-25 NZL 16:0 TGA 2014-10-27 PNG 0:3 NZL

2014-10-29 COK 0:11 NZL

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14 THIRD FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP AS HEAD COACH

TONYREADINGS

FOOTBALL COACH

Named New Zealand’s national coach on 14 September 2011... previously served as an assistant coach at the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in 2007 and 2011... helped New Zealand win the 2014 OFC Women’s Nations Cup to qualify for Canada 2015.

New Zealand Football Inc.President: Mark AspdenGeneral Secretary: Andy MartinFoundation year: 1891

Website: www.nzfootball.co.nzLanguages: EnglishMedia Officer: Steven UpfoldEmail: [email protected]

Name: New ZealandCapital: WellingtonFIFA Trigramme: NZLFIFA affiliation since: 1948


BORN 1975-10-27, LONDON, ENG

NEW ZEALAND FOOTBALL INC.

NEW ZEALAND WNT SINCE 2011


ous high-quality matches annually. As a result the team are collectively high on experience, though still relatively youthful overall. Their team unity is rarely surpassed as evidenced by numerous credible results in recent years.

Since taking over in 2011, coach Tony Readings has continued to slowly reinvigorate the team, adding youth to help the depth of the squad

and helping the side develop a modern brand of football while still boasting the nation’s tra-ditional strengths.

Ali Riley is one of the country’s stars, a multiple winner of the New Zealand Football Player of the Year award. A former WPS winner with FC Gold Pride (2010), she won the 2014 Damallsvenskan with FC Rosengård in Sweden.

After participating in the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup China PR 1991™, New Zea-land will now participate in three consecutive editions since China PR 2007.

New Zealand have also participated in two Women’s Olympic Football Tournaments, five FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups, and all four FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cups.

NEW ZEALAND’S 4TH FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2014 OFC WOMEN’S NATIONS CUP WINNERS



NIGERIA



NIGERIA PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

CAFCHAMPIONS

IN THE USA 1999 QUARTER-FINALS,

NIGERIA REVERSED AN 0-3 START

AGAINST BRAZIL, BUT ULTIMATELY

LOST 4:3 AFTER EXTRA TIME

9X1999 QUARTERS

1991, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010,

2014

NIGERIA WON SILVER AT THE FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP IN 2010 & 2014

ROAD TO CANADANigeria have dominated women’s football in Africa since the first FIFA Women’s World Cup™ was introduced in 1991. Along with winning the early editions of the continental qualifiers, Nigeria have won seven of nine African Women’s Championships since the tournament was introduced as a biennial competition in 1998.

Nigeria qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ by winning the 2014 African Women’s Championship in Namib-ia in October. After winning back-to-back matches against Rwanda in the preliminary phase, Nigeria won all five matches in the final competition, scoring 16 goals in the process and conceding just three.

They topped their group after victories against Namibia, Zambia and Côte d’Ivoire, before beating South Africa 2:1 in the semi-finals and then Cameroon 2:0 in the final.

STRENGTHS & STYLEIn Africa, the Super Falcons have achieved suc-cess playing an all-out attacking style of play, so it is not surprising that the top two scorers from the African Women’s Championship were



“A” INTERNATIONALS (NGA)2014* 8-0-0 2013 0-0-2

2012 5-2-2 2011 5-3-4

2010 7-0-3 2009 0-0-0

2014-05-24 RWA 1:4 NGA 2014-06-07 NGA 8:0 RWA 2014-10-11 NGA 4:2 CIV 2014-10-14 ZAM 0:6 NGA

2014-10-17 NAM 0:2 NGA 2014-10-22 NGA 2:1 CIV a.e.t. 2014-10-25 NGA 2:0 CMR

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14


EDWINOKON

FOOTBALL COACH

Named Nigeria’s national coach in 2012... served as Nigeria’s coach at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Japan 2012... served as an assistant coach at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Trinidad & Tobago 2010... also coach of Nigeria champions Rivers Angels FC.

Nigeria Football FederationPresident: Amaju PinnickGeneral Secretary: Musa AmaduFoundation year: 1945

Website: n/aLanguages: EnglishMedia Officer: Grace AkunjobiEmail: [email protected]

Name: Federal Republic of NigeriaCapital: AbujaFIFA Trigramme: NGAFIFA affiliation since: 1960


BORN 1970-10-19, ITAM, NGA

NIGERIA FOOTBALL FEDERATION

NIGERIA WNT SINCE 2012


Nigerian: Desire Oparanozie (five) and Asisat Oshoala (four).

Oparanozie was Nigeria’s second-youngest player at the last FIFA Women’s World Cup™, also representing her country at two FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups on either side of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011™ finals (2010 and 2012). She was also a tournament

all-star when Nigeria won silver at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Germany 2010.

Oshoala, meanwhile, was named Best Player at the 2014 African Women’s Championship. She hopes to make her FIFA Women’s World Cup™ debut in 2015 after winning the adidas Golden Ball and adidas Golden Shoe awards at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014.

Nigeria have participated at every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, reaching the quar-ter-finals once. They have also participated in three Women’s Olympic Football Tournaments.

Nigeria have also participated in every edition of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. They won U-20 silver at Germany 2010 and Canada 2014.

NIGERIA’S 7TH FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2014 AFRICAN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS



NORWAY


BEST FINISH 1ST PLACE IN 1995 3X WOMEN’S OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT 2X FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

NORWAY PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

UEFACHAMPIONS1X

1995 CHAMPIONS

1993

FOUR YEARS AFTER FINISHING IN 2ND IN

1991, HEGE RIISE LED NORWAY TO THE

1995 WORLD TITLE

NORWAY ALSO FINISHED 4TH IN 1999 & 2007

@NFF_Info

ROAD TO CANADANorway qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ after winning nine straight matches, booking their spot on 13 September with an emphatic away victory in Durrës, ALB. Four days later, Norway post-ed its only loss in Group 5 of the European qualifying competition, falling 0:2 to Neth-erlands.

Earlier in qualifying, Norway posted a de-cisive 2:1 win over the Dutch, who pushed Even Pellerud’s side hard but could not pre-vent them topping the group with a record of 41 goals scored and just five conceded.

Norway’s top goalscorer was Caroline Han-sen, who was still a teenager throughout qualifying (eight goals in nine matches).

STRENGTHS & STYLENorway are one of the ever-presents of FIFA Women’s World Cup™, but they have undeni-

ably lost ground to Germany and USA in recent years. Under returned coach Pellerud, Norway revived its record in 2013, reaching the final of the UEFA Women’s EURO, losing 0:1 to Germany after missing on a pair of penalty kicks.


“A” INTERNATIONALS (NOR)2014* 8-2-5 2013 9-5-6

2012 7-1-4 2011 5-1-7

2010 8-3-4 2009 6-1-7

2013-09-25 NOR 4:1 BEL 2013-10-26 NOR 7:0 ALB 2013-10-30 NED 1:2 NOR 2014-02-13 GRE 0:5 NOR 2014-04-10 BEL 1:2 NOR

2014-05-07 NOR 2:0 POR 2014-06-14 NOR 6:0 GRE 2014-06-18 POR 0:2 NOR 2014-09-13 ALB 0:11 NOR 2014-09-17 NOR 0:2 NED

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14


EVENPELLERUD

FOOTBALL COACH

Named Norway’s national coach on 6 December 2012... previously helped Norway win the FIFA Women’s World Cup Sweden 1995™ (after a second-place finish at China PR 1991)... also twice coached Canada at the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ (2003 and 2007).

Norges FotballforbundPresident: Yngve HallenGeneral Secretary: Kjetil SiemFoundation year: 1902

Website: www.fotball.noLanguages: Norwegian, EnglishMedia Officer: Jon JamesonEmail: [email protected]

Name: Kongeriket NorgeCapital: OsloFIFA Trigramme: NORFIFA affiliation since: 1908


BORN 1953-07-15, ROVERUD, NOR

NORGES FOTBALLFORBUND

NORWAY WNT SINCE 2012

5TH FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS HEAD COACH

Now into their 30s, Trine Rønning, Ingvild Stensland and goalkeeper Ingrid Hjelmseth are still at their peak and bring valuable experience to a side spearheaded by a new wave of tal-ent. Of note, Hjelmseth was named to the UEFA Women’s EURO All-Star Team.

Along with Isabell Herlovsen who is in her mid 20s, youngesters Hansen, Ada and Andrine He-

gerberg, Emilie Haavi and Guro Reiten are all providing the new blood for Norway.

At the domestic level, internationals like Nora Gjøen, Emilie Haavi, Marita Lund and Lene Mykjåland all played for LSK Kvinner Fotballk-lubb during the 2014 season, winning both the Toppserien league title and the Norgesmestere cup final.

Norway have participated at every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, winning silver at China PR 1991 and then gold at Sweden 1995. They also finished fourth in 1999 and 2007.

Before China PR 1991, Norway won the 1988 Women’s International Tournament. At the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, they won bronze in 1996 and gold in 2000.

NORWAY’S 7TH FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2013-14 UEFA GROUP 5 WINNERS



SPAIN


FIRST FINALS IN 2015 1X FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2X FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

SPAIN PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

NATALIA PABLO SCORED TWICE IN THE MATCH

THAT QUALIFIED SPAIN FOR

CANADA 2015

@RFEF @SeFutbol

2015 1ST FINALS

SPAIN WON MEDALS AT TWO FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUPS (2010 & 2014)

ROAD TO CANADADrawn in Group 2 of European Zone qualify-ing, Spain finished top of the section – three points ahead of Italy – after recording nine wins and a draw from their ten encounters. Leading the team’s scorers’ charts was 12-goal Natalia Pablos, while overall La Roja struck 42 times and conceded just twice, to end the qualifying campaign as Europe’s fourth-most prolific attack and fourth-best defence.

Spain’s toughest opponent was Italy, but La Roja won the first match 2:0 at home in Ma-drid. In the return group match in Vicenza, the two sides played to a 0:0 draw.

On 13 September 2014, Spain qualified on the second-last match day, with Natalia Pablos scoring both goals in a 2:0 away win over Romania in Iasi.

STRENGTHS & STYLESpearheaded by the attacking talent of Verónica Boquete, a candidate for FIFA Women’s World Player 2014, much of Spain’s strength comes from the togetherness of players that have

grown up together since their time in the na-tional youth set-up. The years of dedication put in by a group of talented, committed and hard-working footballers, in a country where life in the women’s game still contains many obsta-cles, is reaping rewards.

Boquete, Pablos and Ruth García are just three national team members who represented Spain at the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship


“A” INTERNATIONALS (ESP)2014* 5-1-1 2013 6-3-2

2012 4-2-2 2011 4-1-0

2010 2-1-1 2009 4-0-0

2013-10-27 ESP 6:0 EST 2013-10-31 ESP 2:0 ITA 2013-11-23 ESP 1:0 ROU 2013-11-27 ESP 3:2 CZE 2014-02-13 ESP 12:0 MKD

2014-04-05 ITA 0:0 ESP 2014-04-10 MKD 0:10 ESP 2014-05-08 EST 0:5 ESP 2014-09-13 ROU 0:2 ESP 2014-09-17 CZE 0:1 ESP

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14


IGNACIOQUEREDA

FOOTBALL COACH

Ignacio Quereda Laviña... named Spain’s national coach in 1988... helped Spain win the 2004 UEFA Women’s U-19 Championship... coached at the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship Thailand 2004... former footballer who has coached since the late 1970s.

Real Federación Española de FútbolPresident: Ángel María VillarGeneral Secretary: Jorge PérezFoundation year: 1913

Website: www.rfef.esLanguages: SpanishMedia Officer: Paloma AntoranzEmail: [email protected]

Official Name: Reino de EspañaCapital: MadridFIFA Trigramme: ESPFIFA affiliation since: 1904


BORN 1950-07-24, MADRID, ESP (GREW UP IN BADAJOZ, ESP)

REAL FEDERACIÓN ESPAÑOLA DE FÚTBOL

SPAIN WNT SINCE 1988


a decade ago at Thailand 2004 - Spain’s first participation at a FIFA women’s event (also coached by Ignacio Quereda).

La Roja’s experience gained when reaching the knockout stages of the 2013 UEFA Women’s EURO could prove vital in terms of building confidence and reinforcing belief in their styl-ish, short-passing style.

Usually sent out in a 4-2-3-1 formation, Spain’s balanced approach provides plenty of cover in all areas of the field, with most of their goals coming from the trio lined up behind the main striker. The team is most comfortable in posses-sion yet willing to work hard without it.

This version of La Roja is most definitely on an upward trajectory.

Canada 2015 will mark Spain’s first partici-pation in a FIFA Women’s World Cup™ finals, a well-deserved qualification after a sixth-place finish at the UEFA Women’s EURO in 2013.

Spain has recently won medals at two FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cups: bronze in 2010 and silver in 2014. They also participated in one FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup (the U-19 edition in 2004).

SPAIN’S 1ST FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2013-14 UEFA GROUP 2 WINNERS



SWEDEN


BEST FINISH 2ND PLACE IN 2003 5X WOMEN’S OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT 1X FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

SWEDEN PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

UEFACHAMPIONS1X

2003 2ND PLACE

1984VICTORIA SVENSSON WAS SWEDEN’S STAR

FOOTBALLER AT USA 2003, LEADING

HER COUNTRY TO A SILVER MEDAL

SWEDEN HAS ALSO FINISHED IN 3RD PLACE TWICE: 1991 AND 2011

ROAD TO CANADAWith no points dropped and just one goal conceded in their ten qualifying matches, Sweden’s campaign might be viewed as having been near perfect. Yet coach Pia Sundhage noted Sweden’s status as Eu-rope’s lowest-scoring group winners - albeit with 32 goals. The toughest match, without question, was a narrow 1:0 victory over Bos-nia and Herzegovina in October 2013.

Sundhage’s side, however, rolled on to win every match, including key victories against runners up Scotland (who were later elimi-nated in the UEFA playoff).

Lotta Schelin was Sweden’s top goalscorer with 12 strikes in 10 matches (including the penalty in the 1:0 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina).

STRENGTHS & STYLESundhage has attempted to re-mould Sweden over recent years, placing great emphasis on

the central spine of the team and on dominating teams with a more possession-based approach. Key to this tactical change has been to get the most out of midfielder Caroline Seger, who along with Kosovare Asllani finished second in Swe-den’s goalscoring during the qualifying stage.


“A” INTERNATIONALS (SWE)2014* 9-1-6 2013 10-5-1

2012 8-2-5 2011 10-2-8

2010 8-4-2 2009 11-3-2

2013-09-21 SWE 2:0 POL 2013-10-26 BIH 0:1 SWE 2013-10-31 SWE 5:0 FRO 2014-04-05 NIR 0:4 SWE 2014-05-08 SWE 3:0 NIR

2014-06-14 SCO 1:3 SWE 2014-06-19 FRO 0:5 SWE 2014-08-21 POL 0:4 SWE 2014-09-13 SWE 3:0 BIH 2014-09-17 SWE 2:0 SCO

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14


PIASUNDHAGE

FOOTBALL COACH

Named Sweden’s national coach on 1 December 2012... led USA to Olympic gold medals at Beijing 2008 and London 2012... named 2012 FIFA World Coach for Women’s Football... as a footballer, a UEFA champion and honoured member of Sweden’s Hall of Fame.

Svenska FotbollförbundetPresident: Karl-Erik NilssonGeneral Secretary: Håkan SjöstrandFoundation year: 1904

Website: www.svenskfotboll.seLanguages: SwedishWNT Media Officer: Rebecca HedinEmail: [email protected]

Name: SverigeCapital: StockholmFIFA Trigramme: SWEFIFA affiliation since: 1904

FIFA Big Count:Footballers: 1,006,939Registered: 552,939Unregistered : 454,000

BORN 1960-02-13, ULRICEHAMN, SWE

SVENSKA FOTBOLLFÖRBUNDET

SWEDEN WNT SINCE 2012

2ND FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS HEAD COACH

While the likes of Seger, Nilla Fischer and the vastly experienced Therese Sjögran provide the solid foundation on which the new-look Sweden is built, inspiration is sought from Schelin. The Lyon striker, now in her 30s, became Sweden’s all-time leading goalscorer shortly after qual-ifying, breaking the one-time record held by Hanna Ljungberg.

While both Schelin and Fischer were nominees for the 2014 FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year award, they only made up half of Sweden’s all-star selection at the UEFA Women’s EURO 2013 tournament on home soil. The other two were Seger and Josefine Öqvist. Schelin was the tournament’s top goalscorer while Asllani was the tournament’s assists leader.

Sweden have participated at every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, winning three med-als along the way (bronze at China PR 1991, sil-ver at USA 2003, and bronze at Germany 2011).

Before China PR 1991, Sweden finished second at the 1988 Women’s International Tournament. They have participated in all five editions of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament.

SWEDEN’S 7TH FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2013-14 UEFA GROUP 4 WINNERS



SWITZERLAND



3X FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

SWITZERLAND PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

SWITZERLAND QUALIFIED FOR

THE FIRST TIME ON 16 JUNE 2014

IN WOHLEN, SUI

@SFV_ASF

2015 1ST FINALS

SWITZERLAND WAS THE FIRST UEFA NATION TO QUALIFY FOR CANADA

ROAD TO CANADASwitzerland were the first European nation to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™, securing their first-ever qualification for the finals by mid June 2014. Switzerland won five straight matches be-fore posting a 1:1 draw with Denmark, then cleaned up with four more wins on the back half of the schedule.

Coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s charges finished top of Group 3 ahead of rivals Ice-land and Denmark. The Swiss won both of their away matches against those rivals, with a 2:0 win over Iceland on 26 Septem-ber 2013 and a 1:0 win over Denmark one month later on 31 October.

Lara Dickenmann (10 goals) and Ana Maria Crnogorcevic (nine) were the country’s top goalscorers in the qualifying stage.

Switzerland were also one of just three nations to concede just one goal in European qualify-ing, along with Sweden and England. Swiss goalkeeper Gaëlle Thalmann posted eight of her country’s nine clean sheets, with Stenia Michel posted the other.

STRENGTHS & STYLESwitzerland have benefitted from having a core of experienced players who are contracted to foreign clubs, including Ramona Bachmann, who consistently showcased her extraordinary talents throughout qualifying. She has been a mainstay in the Swiss lineup since making her international debut at age 16 on 15 June 2007.


Qualified on 15 June 2014

“A” INTERNATIONALS (SUI)2014* 9-2-3 2013 5-2-2

2012 6-0-7 2011 4-1-7

2010 7-3-8 2009 3-1-6

2013-09-21 SUI 9:0 SRB 2013-09-26 ISL 0:2 SUI 2013-10-31 DEN 0:1 SUI 2014-02-12 ISR 0:5 SUI 2014-04-05 SUI 11:0 MLT

2014-04-10 SUI 1:1 DEN 2014-05-08 SUI 3:0 ISL 2014-06-14 SUI 9:0 ISR 2014-06-19 SRB 0:7 SUI 2014-09-17 MLT 0:5 SUI

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14

Association Suisse de FootballPresident: Peter GillieronGeneral Secretary: Alex MiescherFoundation year: 1895

Website: www.football.chLanguages: French, German, ItalianMedia Officer: Marco Von AhEmail: [email protected]

Confederation Suisse Capital: BernFIFA Trigramme: SUIFIFA affiliation since: 1904


ASSOCIATION SUISSE DE FOOTBALL


MARTINAVOSS-TECKLENBURG

FOOTBALL COACH

Named Switzerland’s national coach on 29 January 2012... won 2009 UEFA Women’s Cup as coach of Duisburg... as a footballer, a four-time UEFA champion and three-time FIFA Women’s World Cup™ participant... a two-time German player of the year (1996, 2000).

BORN 1967-12-22, DUISBURG, GER

SWITZERLAND WNT SINCE 2012


Bachmann has laced her boots for foreign sides since 2007, including spells at Umeå IK, Atlan-ta Beat and FC Rosengård. In that period, she has been voted Swiss Women’s Player of the Year (2009) and won two Swedish champion-ships (in 2013 and 2014).

Alongside Bachmann, one of the other leading members of the Swiss team is Dickenmann,

who has earned numerous titles with top French side Olympique Lyon. She previously played in USA (earning W-League Most Valuable Player honours in 2007) and Swiss side Zürich before moving to France in 2009.

In Germany, meanwhile, Crnogorcevic plies her trade with FFC Frankfurt. The young striker is a former top goalscorer from the Swiss league.

Canada 2015 will mark Switzerland’s first par-ticipation in a FIFA Women’s World Cup™ finals, with the Swiss beating Iceland and Denmark to win UEFA Group 3.

At the youth level, Switzerland has participat-ed in three editions of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, albeit never beyond the group phase (2006, 2010 and 2012).

SWITZERLAND’S 1ST FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2013-14 UEFA GROUP 3 WINNERS



THAILAND

FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ FIRST FINALS IN 2015

1X FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

THAILAND PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

AFCCHAMPIONS

KANJANA SUNG-NGOEN SCORED TWICE TO HELP

THAILAND QUALIFY ON 21 MAY 2014 IN

HO CHI MINH, VIETNAM

@FAThailand

1X2015 1ST FINALS

1983

ROAD TO CANADAThailand qualified for its maiden FIFA Wom-en’s World Cup™ thanks to a fifth-place finish in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup held in May 2014. Their odyssey to Canada 2015 began a year earlier in the unlikely setting of Dhaka, Bangladesh where they secured a clean sweep of their preliminary stage group with comfortable wins over Iran, the hosts Bangladesh, and the Philippines through a tough 1:0 win. Nisa Romyen was the star on that day with the lone goal to beat the Maltidas.

In 2014, Thailand entered the final stage of the 2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup with a new head coach, Nuengrutai Srathongvian. After successive defeats against China PR and Korea Republic, Thailand won 2:1 against Myanmar to put themselves in the decisive fifth-place playoff against the tournament hosts, Vietnam.

Once again, Thailand prevailed in a crucial match with a narrow one-goal margin as a his-toric double from Kanjana Sung-Ngoen edged

out the hosts 2:1 in a tense encounter in front of a lively crowd of 18,000.

STRENGTHS & STYLEThailand’s main strength is their familiarity with eachother, with many of the side boasting lengthy careers in the international arena, ei-ther at the national or youth level. Thailand pos-



“A” INTERNATIONALS (THA)2014* 4-1-5 2013 9-2-1

2012 3-0-1 2011 11-1-6

2010 1-0-4 2009 5-3-1

2013-05-21 BAN 0:9 THA 2013-05-23 PHI 0:1 THA 2013-05-25 THA 5:1 IRN 2014-05-15 CHN 7:0 THA

2014-05-17 KOR 4:0 THA 2014-05-19 MYA 1:2 THA 2014-05-21 VIE 1:2 THA

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14


NUENGRUTAISRATHONGVIAN

FOOTBALL COACH

Named Thailand’s national coach in April 2014... she is the first female head coach of Thailand (she previously served as an assistant coach)... won a league title with BG-CAS Khon Kaen... earned her Master’s of Science in Sport at Kasetsart University.

The Football Association of ThailandPresident: Worawi MakudiGeneral Secretary: Worrawuth ThongsringamFoundation year: 1916

Website: www.fat.or.thLanguages: ThaiWNT Media Officer: Kann VearasilpEmail: [email protected]

Official Name: Prathet ThaiCapital: BangkokFIFA Trigramme: THAFIFA affiliation since: 1925


BORN 1972-01-01, NAKHON PATHOM, THA

THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF THAILAND

THAILAND WNT SINCE 2014


ses a trademark southeast Asian, quick-tempo short-passing, game. The main threat in front of goal is striker Nisa Romyen who boasts an impressive goal return over recent years at in-ternational level.

Pace on the wings is added by Kanjana Sung-Ngoen, while senior personnel include Darut Changplook in defence and Naphat Sees-

raum in midfield. Seesraum is a graduate from the Thailand youth team that participated as hosts of the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cham-pionship Thailand 2004 - the last time they played in a FIFA women’s final competition.

Interest too will focus on Taneekarn Dangda - sister of men’s national team icon Teerasil – who had a spell in Sweden during 2014.

Canada 2015 will mark Thailand’s first par-ticipation in a FIFA Women’s World Cup™ finals. They previously participated at the 1988 Women’s International Tournament.

Thailand previously participated at one FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, in fact hosting the second edition when it was known as the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship.

THAILAND’S 1ST FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2014 AFC WOMEN’S ASIAN CUP FIFTH PLACE



USA

FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 BEST FINISH 1ST PLACE 1991 & 1999 5X WOMEN’S OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT 7X FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2X FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

USA PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

CONCACAFCHAMPIONS

MICHELLE AKERS WON WORLD TITLES WITH USA IN 1991 & 1999.

SHE WAS THE TOP SCORER IN 1991.

2X WORLD CHAMPS@ussoccer_WNT@ussoccer

10X1999 CHAMPIONS

1991, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2004,

2006, 2008, 2012, 2014

ROAD TO CANADAUSA assereted their dominance over their neighbours once again with a perfect show-ing at the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Cham-pionship, scoring 21 goals and conceding none in their five wins to claim another re-gional title and a spot at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™.

Veteran defender Christie Rampone picked up her 300th cap in USA’s 3:0 semi-final victory over Mexico. Abby Wambach scored seven times in four appearances throughout the tournament, including hitting a hat-trick in the 6:0 triumph against Costa Rica in the final. Goalkeeper Hope Solo recorded four more clean sheets in the competition to raise her all-time tally to 77.

STRENGTHS & STYLEUSA are expected to be one of the dominant sides at Canada 2015 for good reason. Coach

Jill Ellis will have a strong blend of youth and experience at her disposal throughout the tour-nament. Former FIFA World Player of the Year Abby Wambach will likely pair up with Alex Mor-gan to continue their partnership that led USA to the Germany 2011 final.



“A” INTERNATIONALS (USA)2014* 15-3-2 2013 13-3-0

2012 28-3-1 2011 13-4-3

2010 15-2-1 2009 7-1-0

2014-10-15 USA 1:0 TRI 2014-10-17 USA 5:0 GUA 2014-10-20 HAI 0:6 USA

2014-10-24 USA 3:0 MEX 2014-10-26 CRC 0:6 USA

* 201

4 tota

ls thr

ough

30 No

vemb

er 20

14

JILLELLIS

FOOTBALL COACH

Named USA’s national coach on 16 May 2014... served as an assistant coach when USA won Olympic gold at Beijing 2008 and London 2012... led USA to first place at the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship... earned her USSF Coaching A License in 1996.

U.S. Soccer FederationPresident: Sunil GulatiGeneral Secretary: Dan FlynnFoundation year: 1913

Website: www.ussocer.comLanguages: EnglishMedia Officer: Aaron HeifetzEmail: [email protected]

United States of AmericaCapital: WashingtonFIFA Trigramme: USAFIFA affiliation since: 1914


BORN 1966-09-06, PORTSMOUTH, ENG

U.S. SOCCER FEDERATION

USA WNT SINCE 2014


USA have participated at every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, also winning a med-al at every previous edition (two gold, one silver, and three bronze).

At the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, USA have won four gold medals and one silver medal. They have won three FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups.

USA’S 7TH FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP™ AS A FINALIST2014 CONCACAF WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS

With the likes of Megan Rapinoe, Sydney Leroux, Christen Press and Carli Lloyd supporting that strikeforce, goals can likely come from all over the pitch for the Americans. Youngsters such as Morgan Brian and FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2014 star Lindsay Horan are on the periphery of a star-studded squad and could get their chance to shine, too.

With goalkeeping sensation Hope Solo set for her third FIFA Women’s World Cup™ behind a backline led by veteran Rampone, Becky Sau-erbrunn and Ali Krieger, the Americans are certainly a force with which to be reckoned at Canada 2015, especially with the bitter memory of a second-place finish at Germany 2011 still fresh in the minds of many in the squad.


FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP CANADA 2015™ - Canada Soccer · FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP CANADA 2015™ THE COMPETITION CONCACAF 27 of 35 Nations SOUTH AMERICA (CONMEBOL) All 10 Nations

Documents