The 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup will begin from June 26 in Germany. World cup matches will be played in nine stadiums in various cities across the country with the final being played at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt.
The host country as well as the defending champions won the right for holding the event in October 2007 ahead of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Peru and Switzerland.
Germany and United States have won Women’s World Cup twice as the former is the only nation to have won both the men’s and women’s World Cups.
Sixteen teams were selected for participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that kicked off in 2009.
In the first round of the tournament finals, the teams will compete in round-robin groups of four teams for points with the top two teams in each group proceeding.
The eight teams will advance to the knockout stage where two rounds of play will decide as to which team will participate in the final.
The teams division in four groups follows as: Group ‘A’ includes Germany, Canada, Nigeria, and France, while Group ‘B’ consists of Japan, New Zealand, Mexico and England. Similarly, United States, North Korea, Colombia, and Sweden falls in Group ‘C,’ while Group ‘D’ comprises Brazil, Australia, Norway and Equatorial Guinea.
The first Women’s World Cup tournament, named as the Women’s World Championship, was first held in 1991, sixty-one years after the men’s first FIFA World Cup tournament organised in 1930.