Women's World Cup 2015 TV schedule: Canada vs. China in opening match
Women's World Cup 2015 TV schedule: Who to watch this weekend. For the next month, the best women's soccer teams in the world will be playing north of the US border until a champion is crowned.
The FIFA Women's World Cup trophy is displayed during the opening press conference for the competition, Thursday June 4, 2015, in Vancouver, British Colubmia. The Women's World Cup is being held in six Canadian cities, including Vancouver, from June 6 to July 5.
Darryl Dyck, The Canadian Press/AP
[Update: Canada won 1-0 over China on Saturday]
The seventh FIFA Women's World Cup soccer tournament takes place this year in Canada. It gets underway Saturday evening in Edmonton, Alberta, as the host team meets China.
A total of 24 teams from around the globe will be competing in the quadrennial event, including defending World Cup champion Japan, the United States, Germany, and Brazil.
This year, according to the Independent, eight of the 24 nations – Cameroon, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Ecuador, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and Thailand – are all participating for the first time.
There are a number of outstanding players in this tournament, highlighted by two-time Olympic gold medalist Abby Wambach of the United States. The Guardian looks at several other top female soccer stars, including Nigeria's Asisat Oshoala, Marta of Brazil, Japan's Homare Sawa, and 17-year-old Jessie Fleming from the host nation, Canada.
The Women's World Cup tournament is set up in a similar fashion to the men's event last year in Brazil. There are six groups of four teams each. Over the next two weeks, each country will play the other three teams in their respective groups once. The top two teams from each group will advance to the next round.
Looking at the groups, you see some interesting pairings during the World Cup's first round. The host country will face China, New Zealand, and the Netherlands in Group A. Former Women's World Cup champions Germany and Norway make up half of Group B.
Defending champion Japan will take on Switzerland, Cameroon, and Ecuador in Group C. The United States and Nigeria's women will face off in Group D, just like their male counterparts did a year ago. Brazil will have its hands full with South Korea, Spain, and Costa Rica in Group E. France will take on Britain while Colombia meets Mexico in Group F.
You can watch Canadia and China from Edmonton at 6 p.m. Eastern time Saturday on Fox Sports 1. That match will be followed by the Netherlands taking on New Zealand, which can be seen on Fox Sports 2 at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern time, Norway will meet Thailand, followed by Germany and Ivory Coast. Both matches will be televised on Fox.