The 2019 Women’s World Cup is set to be the most competitive yet and England, who meet Scotland in their opening game on 9 June, are genuine contenders

2019, World Cup fever No 2: England and Scotland go for glory in France

Jill Ellis did not ponder the question for long. The USA’s English-born manager had just been asked if France 2019 would be the most competitive Women’s World Cup to date and her answer spoke volumes.

“Is it going to the hardest to win?” mused the coach who led her adopted country to glory in Canada four years ago. “Well, every World Cup should be bigger and better than the one before and, in terms of the standard of the teams alone, I think France is going to be a spectacular tournament.”

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With 24 countries competing across nine venues from Valenciennes to Montpellier and Le Havre to Grenoble, the tournament has doubled in size since the USA beat Norway at Fifa’s first formal World Cup, in China in 1991.

Back then media coverage was limited. As recently as Canada 2015 only three UK newspapers sent dedicated reporters to watch England secure a bronze medal – but that will change in France where British journalists are scheduled to descend on masse. Some will arrive in Nice – where Phil Neville’s England face Shelley Kerr’s Scotland in their opening game on 9 June ready to cast critical eyes over a branch of the sport they may be new to.

The challenge confronting England’s Fran Kirby, Scotland’s Kim Little and their fellow star players is to capture the hearts and minds of both the mainstream media and British television audiences. The reaction at home could well determine whether England’s newly all professional Women’s Super League finally starts attracting the attendances and commercial deals required for long term sustainability.

“Women’s football is at a bit of a tipping point at the moment,” says Casey Stoney, the former England captain turned Manchester United manager. “If England win this World Cup it might just tip it to where we want it to go. It’s going to be an exciting tournament in a good timezone for television.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Scotland, pictured here playing the favourites USA in November, face England in their opening match. Photograph: Craig Doyle/ProSports/REX/Shutterstock

The final, in Lyon on 7 July, could perhaps do with a tranformative Brandi Chastain-type moment. No one should underestimate the importance of a sultry Californian summer’s evening in 1999 and the single swipe of Chastain’s left foot which converted a penalty against China to win the USA the World Cup.

As she celebrated by whipping off her shirt to reveal a black sports bra, the 90,185 crowd - a record live attendance for an international women’s sporting event - inside Pasadena’s Rosebowl swayed to Jennifer Lopez’s Let’s Get Loud. Admittedly Chastain’s iconic cameo would eventually be seen as a starting gun for evolution rather than revolution but, temporarily at least, the world woke up to female football’s potential.

Sponsors facilitated a North American professional league only to find its durability would prove the sort of mirage more usually found in the Mojave desert. Two decades on, the US league is in its third incarnation, the previous two having folded, while the WSL is Europe’s sole professional divison.

The latter’s inaugural season has attracted stubbornly low crowds, often in the hundreds for high calibre games. It is easy to see why the Football Association is so desperate for England to secure the World Cup trophy it feels would galvanise the domestic game.

Quick guide Women's World Cup 2019 guide Show Hide When is it? From 7 June- 7 July 2019. After the 24 teams are culled by an initial group stage, the last 16 knockout games take place from 22-25 June, the quarter finals from 27-29 June, the semi-finals on 2-3 July and the final on 7 July. Where is it? At nine venues across France – Paris, Reims, Rennes, Valenciennes, Le Havre, Grenoble, Montpellier, Nice and Lyon. The final and semi-finals are in Lyon. England and Scotland are paired with Japan and Argentina in Group D and meet in their opening game in Nice on 9 June. Lionesses fans face a lengthy trip to Le Havre for the second game against Argentina on 14 June before returning to the Riviera to meet Japan five days later. Scotland play Japan in Rennes on 14 June and Argentina in Paris on 19 June. Who progresses from the six groups? The top two and four best third placed sides. Depending on position, England and Scotland could have trips to two of Valenciennes, Rennes, Le Havre and Grenoble at the round of 16 and/or quarter final stages. Who are the favourites? The USA as defending champions, Germany, France, England, Canada, Australia. While Japan, the 2011 winners, were runners up to Jill Ellis’s side at Canada 2015, England finished with a bronze medal after beating Germany in the third place play-off. Dark horses? Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands. Players to watch? Alex Morgan scored 18 goals in 19 games for USA in 2018 but England possess a brilliant playmaker in Fran Kirby and outstanding right back in Lucy Bronze, while Kim Little has the midfield talent to make Scotland’s World Cup debut one to remember. Then there’s France’s Amandine Henry and Wendie Renard, Germany’s Dzsenifer Marozsán and Lieke Martens of the Netherlands. What has Bob Marley got to do with it Jamaica, aka the Reggae Girlz, have become the first Caribbean country to qualify for a Women’s World Cup finals and they did it thanks to financial help from the Bob Marley Foundation following the intervention of the late singer’s daughter, Cedella Marley. “Daddy would not be surprised,” she says. Where to buy ticket? From Fifa - assorted packages are available.

These days Neville’s star players, Lyon’s Lucy Bronze among them, can command six-figure salaries from club and central England contracts but a little lower down the pecking order, a sense of fragility feels pervasive. Tellingly, the majority of players at WSL Yeovil earn the minimum wage with such inequality and insecurity at least seeming in step with some of the wider world’s troubles.

With somewhat unfortunate timing, December’s glitzy tournament draw in Paris – which placed England and a Scotland side participating in their first finals in the same initial group as the not to be underestimated 2011 winners and 2015 finalists Japan – coincided with a weekend of violent anti government protests across France’s capital.

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If the gilets jaunes will presumably be appeased by June and the bubble wrap surrounding Fifa events invariably transforms tournament venues into temporary Narnias, terrorism remains a threat.

The men’s 2016 European Championship finals passed off peacefully but France’s security services remain mindful of the danger.

Such fears were evident in a stadium lift at Valenciennes in October 2017 when England played a friendly against France and an armed policeman spotted a journalist apparently lacking an identifying “media personnel” lanyard. It had merely become hidden beneath a coat but the speed with which the officer readied his gun seemed instructive.

Neville is currently honing England’s preparations to out-manoeuvre fellow contenders, including the US, Germany, Canada, Australia, Japan and France in securing prize money worth $4m to the winners - or $34m less than Didier Deschamps’s men earned for triumphing at Russia 2019.

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While Neville needs to prove he is as smart a tactician as his predecessor Mark Sampson – sacked for non-football reasons – France’s Corinne Diacre is under pressure to emulate Deschamps’ achievement.

After spending three largely successful years as the first woman to coach a French men’s team, second tier Clermont, she should be tough enough to get the best from a talented, yet arguably flaky, squad yet remains cautious.

“My objective is to at least reach the semi-finals but we’re outsiders,” says Diacre. “The USA are favourites, they have a winning culture.”