2019 Women's World Cup Preview: Dates, Venues, Golden Boot Contenders, Breakout Stars & More

The eighth FIFA Women's World Cup is the most eagerly anticipated tournament the women's game has ever seen, with a global rise in popularity and quality in recent years, and several countries in with a genuine chance of lifting the trophy aloft come mid-July.

This is everything you need to know about the hottest competition this summer.

Previous Winners

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Year	Winner	Notable Players
1991	USA	Michelle Akers, Carin Jennings, April Heinrichs
1995	Norway	Hege Riise, Ann Kristin Aarones, Gro Espeseth
1999	USA	Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Michelle Akers
2003	Germany	Birgit Prinz, Maren Meinert, Silke Rottenberg
2007	Germany	Birgit Prinz, Ariane Hingst, Renate Lingor
2011	Japan	Homare Sawa, Aya Miyama, Shinobu Ohno
2015	USA	Carli Lloyd, Abby Wambach, Hope Solo

Pre-Tournament Favourites

The United States go into the competition as current holders and top of the FIFA World Rankings, and are therefore early favourites to win for a record fourth time.

That being said, the Americans haven't exactly been flawless of late and coach Jill Ellis has previously acknowledged the difficulty in retaining the title given the rise in global quality.

It will open the door for the likes of Germany, England and France, while Canada, Australia, Japan, Netherlands and Sweden cannot be discounted if they can build some momentum.

Competition Format

This is the second Women's World Cup of 24 countries and it will follow the same format as 2015, with six groups of four, labelled A-F. The top two in each group will automatically progress to the first knockout round, with the four best third place teams also joining them.

From that point, it is a standard knockout tournament, with a round of 16, quarter finals, semi finals, third/fourth place playoff and final.

Dates

Host nation France will kick off the tournament in Paris against South Korea on Friday 7 June, the only game of the day, with the rest of the competition commencing the following day.

The group stage will conclude when the final Group F fixtures are played on Thursday 20 June, and the knockout rounds will begin almost immediately on Saturday 22 June.

The four quarter finals will be played between 27 and 29 June, with the semi finals taking place on 2 and 3 July. The third/fourth playoff will be on 6 July, and the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup final will be played in Lyon in the early evening of Sunday 7 July.

Can't Miss Group Stage Fixtures

France vs South Korea (7 June) - Opening game of the tournament.

Germany vs China (8 June) - How sharp are Germany looking in 2019?

England vs Scotland (9 June) - Local rivalry played out on global stage.

USA vs Thailand (11 June)- The holders begin the defence of their title.

France vs Norway (12 June) - A potential early test for the hosts.

Australia vs Brazil (13 June) - Should decide winner of Group C.

China vs Spain (17 June) - Who will finish second in Group B?

Japan vs England (19 June) - Should decide winner of Group D.

Netherlands vs Canada (20 June) - Should decide winner of Group E.

Sweden vs United States (20 June) - The first game after the final & semi finals to sell out.

Venues

Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon - capacity 59,000 (below)

Parc des Princes, Paris - capacity 49,000

Allianz Riviera, Nice - capacity 36,000 (below)

Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier - capacity 33,000

Roazhon Park, Rennes - capacity 29,000

Stade Oceane, Le Havre - capacity 25,000

Stade du Hainaut, Valenciennes - capacity 25,000 (below)

Stade Auguste-Delaune, Reims - capacity 21,000

Stade des Alpes, Grenoble - capacity 20,000

Golden Boot Contenders

Nikita Parris (England)

Alex Morgan (USA)

Christine Sinclair (Canada)

Eugenie Le Sommer (France)

Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands)

Mana Iwabuchi (Japan)

Lea Schuller (Germany)

Sam Kerr (Australia)

Potential Breakout Stars

Jordyn Huitema (Canada) - 18, forward

Georgia Stanway (England) - 20, midfielder

Grace Geyoro (France) 21, midfielder

Ingrid Syrstar Engen (Norway) - 21, midfielder

Lea Schuller (Germany) - 21, forward

Mary Fowler (Australia) - 16, forward

Khadija Shaw (Jamaica) - 22, forward

Erin Curthbert (Scotland) - 20, forward

Tierna Davidson (USA) - 20, defender

Any Other Business?

Canada captain Christine Sinclair will set a new world record for international goals, men or women, if she scores four at the World Cup to better Abby Wambach's tally of 184.

No country has ever played in three consecutive World Cup finals, but USA and Japan both have the chance to make history in 2019 after each getting to the showpiece in 2011 and 2015.

At 41, Brazil midfielder Formiga will become the oldest player in Women's World Cup history when she steps out onto the pitch. This is her seventh World Cup, also a new record.

Brazil are coming into the tournament in a terrible run of form after losing nine straight games since August and have only won a single game - against Japan - in the last 13 months.

Scotland, Chile, Jamaica and South Africa are all competing at the World Cup for the first time.

Argentina are returning to the World Cup after a 12-year absence. La Albiceleste have never previously won a game at the tournament and were beaten 11-0 by Germany in 2007.