Of the 24 nations participating in the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015, Nigeria was the only undefeated nation during the 2014 calendar year. Nigeria won all eight of its matches, including seven during FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 Qualifiers.
The nine-time African champions Nigeria, who will kick off their Canada 2015 campaign in Winnipeg, Manitoba, are one of seven nations that have participated in every FIFA Women’s World Cup finals since 1991. After two matches in Winnipeg, Nigeria will close off their group phase against USA in Vancouver, British Columbia on 16 June.
Nigeria’s group opponent USA was the world leader in 2014 with 16 international victories. Like Nigeria, USA have participated in every FIFA Women’s World Cup finals since 1991.
After Nigeria, three other finalists lost just one match in 2014: Spain (who lost to Norway in January), France (who lost to USA in June), and Germany (who lost to France in October). In 2015, Spain will play its group matches in Montréal and Ottawa, France will play their group matches in Moncton and Ottawa, and Germany will play their group matches in Ottawa and Winnipeg.
The eight nations with more than 10 international wins in 2014 (all of whom participated in FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 Qualifiers) were:
16. USA (16-5-3)
14. Japan (14-3-2) and China PR (14-6-7)
13. France (13-3-1)
12. Brazil (12-8-3), Germany (12-0-1) and Korea Republic (12-4-3)
10. England (10-1-2)
Seven of the 24 finalists for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ will be in action this January 2015, with four of those nations participating in an international tournament in Shenzhen, China.
Canada, South Korea, Mexico and host China will play three matches each from 11-15 January. Incidentally, the last match of the January tournament will preview the same head-to-head match for the opening of this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 – Canada v China.
Other FIFA Women’s World Cup finalists in action this month are New Zealand (two matches v Denmark), Norway (v Sweden and Republic of Ireland), and Sweden.
While seven national teams have scheduled matches in January, several other nations have organised training camps in the first month of the new year, including Costa Rica who are currently without a head coach after the 5 January departure of Garabet Avedissián.
Source – fifawwc
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