The 2015 Women’s World Cup Final takes place this Sunday, July 5 with the second-ranked USA taking on reigning World Cup champions Japan at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia. If the game is tied after 90 minutes it will go to 30 minutes of extra time. If there’s still no winner, then it will be decided by a penalty kick shootout. This game is a rematch of the 2011 World Cup which Japan won in a shootout.
FIFA World Cup Final Betting Preview – USA vs Japan
- bet365 currently lists the USA as the favorites to win this match at 3/4 with Japan 15/4 and a 90-minute draw at 5/2.
The American women topped Group D, also known as the group of death, by beating Australia 3-1 in their opener and then drawing 0-0 with Sweden and taking down Nigeria 1-0. They then won their round-of-16 match 2-0 over Colombia. This set up a showdown with China in the quarterfinals and the Americans managed to do enough to pull off a 1-0 win. The U.S. then took on Germany, the world’s top-ranked team, in the semifinal on June 30 and shut them out 2-0 at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. The U.S. defense has been rock solid though with Becky Sauerbrunn leading the way and goaltender Hope Solo has allowed just one goal against in six games with five straight clean sheets. In fact, the U.S. hasn’t allowed a goal against in 513 minutes.
Japan won all three of their Group C outings to capture the group with their perfect record. They edged Switzerland 1-0 in their opener and followed it up with a 2-1 victory over Cameroon and a 1-0 shutout of Ecuador. Japan has looked dreadful at times in the tournament though, especially in their match against Switzerland. They took on Holland in the round-of-16 and earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory before beating Australia 1-0 in the quarterfinals on a late 87th minute goal. Japan was then handed a stroke of luck in their semifinal showdown against England on July 1 in Edmonton, when the English scored in their own net with just seconds to go in the contest to hand them a 2-1 victory.
Japan is six for six in the event even though they haven’t quite played up to their potential as of yet as all six wins have been by a lone goal. They’ve made numerous mental errors and haven’t played consistently enough. That said, they’ve also shown some brilliant flashes of creativity at times. They also head into the Final with nine straight wins in World Cup competition. Japan’s goal scoring has been spread out well as seven different players have found the net and they’ve allowed just three against, with one of them being a fluke and another coming on a penalty kick. The USA appears to be peaking at the right time as they’ve improved each time out after getting off to a slow start to the tournament. The two-time champions will now be playing in their record fourth World Cup Final. Midfielder Carli Lloyd has been leading the way offensively recently with three goals in her last three outings.
Overall, these two sides have met seven times in the past with the USA winning six of them to go along with the shootout loss in the 2011 Final. Japan simply hasn’t looked that impressive at this year’s tournament, but the team somehow always manages to get the job done. They could either be a team of destiny or their luck will run out in the Final. If Japan doesn’t improve over their previous six performances in this event though, it will likely be a case of the latte
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