Even with an expanded field for the 2015 Women’s World Cup, the U.S. Women’s National Team still managed to find themselves in the Group of Death.

The Americans eagerly watched to learn which teams will be featured in their group come June. In almost comically obvious fashion, the U.S. was drawn against opponents Australia, Nigeria and Sweden.

Tenth ranked Australia was the first team to be drawn to face the U.S. in Group D’s opening game in Winnipeg. While Australia hasn’t faced the U.S. in over a year, the Melinda’s are familiar with American players. Seven Australians are regular starters and critical players for their NWSL teams.

The Aussies are a young team loaded with experience. Sky Blue’s Caitlin Foord is the best example having played in the 2011 World Cup at 16 and won the tournament’s Best Young Player Award. The Australians have never made it past the quarterfinals in a senior World Cup, but with some hefty determination and luck, the Australians could be a dark horse in the group and the tournament.

Nigeria was the next draw for Group D and present an interesting challenge for the U.S. While it may seem like a sure win for the red, white and blue in the group’s final game, the African Champions are a question mark for the U.S. having only met with the Central African team four times in the past, once in the World Cup.

“They are a strong, individually talented and physical team,” U.S. head coach Jill Ellis said in a conference call after the draw. “They have a man-marking system we will have to prepare for.”

The final draw for Group D is the most interesting and most troubling for the U.S.   Sweden has become a growing problem for the Americans, having lost their last matchup against the Swedes 1-0 in the 2014 Algarve Cup, as well as beating the U.S. in the final group game of 2011 World Cup.

Oh and the Swedes just so happened to be helmed by reigning coach of the year and former USWNT coach Pia Sundhage.

“For me it is easier playing against a friend,” Ellis said of the former U.S. coach, stating that she and Sundhage shared a laugh over the seemingly inevitable fact that their teams would be facing each other.

Curiously Sweden was not seeded heading into the draw, despite sitting fifth in FIFA rankings. Questioned about why Sweden was dropped from seeding still remain but as Sundhage pointed out post draw in an email to the Equalizer, “it is what it is”.

“To win this thing, you’re going to have to play good teams. Certainly we’re in the toughest group. It’s going to be a challenging group. Obviously we’ve played Sweden and Australia many times and I know we’ve played Nigeria in a World Cup, but they’re all presenting slightly different challenges,” Ellis said.

The good news is that if they can make it to the knockout round by finishing first in their group, they will earn an extra day of rest and avoid facing another first place team on the way to the final. They would most likely face a third place team in the round of 16, then the runner up of Group A or C to lead into the semifinal.

Before we get to far ahead of ourselves though, the Americans have several games lined up against top ranked team to prepare for a difficult group, starting with the Four Nations tournament next week in Brazil.

2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Groups


Group A (Edmonton, Montreal, Winnipeg):
 Canada, 
China PR, 
New Zealand,
Netherlands

Group B (Ottawa, Winnipeg, Moncton): 
Germany, 
Ivory Coast
, Norway
, Thailand

Group C (Vancouver, Winnipeg, Edmonton): 
Japan
, Switzerland, 
Cameroon,
Ecuador

Group D (Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton): USA
, Australia, 
Sweden, 
Nigeria

Group E (Montreal, Moncton, Ottawa):
 Brazil
, Korea Republic
, Spain
, Costa Rica

Group F (Moncton, Ottawa, Montreal): France
, England
, Colombia
, Mexico