France - USA Women’s World Cup 1/4 final key to 2019 Global Cup title?
The Women’s Football World Cup quarter-final between the USA and host nation France on Friday 28 June isn’t ‘just’ a gateway to the tournament’s last four, but it could also have a substantial impact in this year’s Global Cup race for the title of world’s best sporting nation.
The USA, winners of the Global Cup in every edition since 2008, is currently a rather disappointing third in the table with 1,234 points. France, runner-up in the Global Cup in 2017 and 2018 – when it finished the closest any nation ever did to the USA – is in fifth place with 974 points. Both countries are slightly off the pace compared to previous form, but based on the latter, they must still be favourites for this year’s top two spots in the ranking.
There are 260 points between the USA and France at the moment, and this is why the result of Friday’s game is so interesting for both nations: making it to the Football World Cup’s last four means a minimum of 210 points and a maximum of 420 (for the World Cup winner, with 252 points for third place and 336 for second). Enough for France to close the gap significantly or carve a decisive lead in the ranking, and even start dreaming about an amazing, first-ever Global Cup title, or for the USA to widen the current gap, perhaps to an extent that would make bridging it impossible for France.
With so much at stake, Friday’s quarter-final promises to be a cracking encounter, another one in a thoroughly entertaining tournament so far, and one that could go a long way in deciding which country will win the Global Cup 2019. The two teams met in a pre-World Cup friendly game last January, and France won 3-1.
