USA v France Women's World Cup quarterfinals - The only thing hotter than the play on the field may be the weather as dangerous heat wave to engulf Europe

Dream match to shatter attendance, viewers and temperature records.

Fox Preview France v USA

Women's World Cup: France v USA could be 'wild and crazy' - Megan Rapinoe

By Tom Garry

BBC Sport in Reims

United States midfielder Megan Rapinoe said Friday's Women's World Cup quarter-final against hosts France could be "wild and crazy".

Rapinoe scored two penalties in Monday's 2-1 victory over Spain, as the holders set up the tie in Paris.

The two sides were the pre-tournament favourites and both topped their groups, with a semi-final against England or Norway awaiting the winners.

"This is the game everyone had circled," said Rapinoe.

"This is incredible for the women's game. You have two heavy-hitters meeting.

"I hope it's wild and crazy. I hope the fans are crazy, there is tons of media around it and it is just a big spectacle."

The USA are top of the world rankings and their only defeat since 2017 came against France in January.

Their Britain-born head coach Jill Ellis, who was in charge when they won the World Cup in 2015, added: "It's going to be an amazing game. I'm sure a lot of people would want it later in the tournament.

"It's probably going to be crazy with a lot of intensity, but that's as it should be because I truly think this is the world game for women, so what a showcase piece."

France are bidding to win their first major tournament, while the USA are attempting to lift a record fourth Women's World Cup.

Despite the two teams being the favourites from the outset, neither has appeared invincible so far in the knockout stages.

Less than 24 hours after France needed extra time to overcome Brazil in their last-16 tie, the defending champions were thoroughly tested by Spain in Reims.

Against Spain, Ellis' team conceded a goal for the first time at these finals, and occasionally appeared sloppy at the back, in a game some bookmakers had them down as 1-10 odds-on favourites to win.

Former USA goalkeeper Hope Solo said there were many things to question about her former side's display, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: "When you have that much attacking prowess, to not get a goal in normal play is concerning.

"People don't bow down to the United States like they used to. They don't come in and put everyone on edge like they used to.

"Many teams have proved they can beat the USA. If you want to beat the USA you have to press the backline.

"That's where they are truly vulnerable. It's the decision-making, it's the quality of passing - and I think there are nerves back there."

France Heat Wave Warning

Women's World Cup: In search of a major tournament in Paris

By Tom Garry

BBC Sport in Paris

 Fans at Euro 2016 (left) could watch matches on a big screen at the Eiffel Tower but these Chile supporters (right) could not do the same at the Women's World Cup

On a warm Saturday evening in the summer, whether gazing towards the Eiffel Tower from the crowded Place du Trocadero, strolling alongside the River Seine or approaching the Jardin des Tuileries from the Place de la Concorde, you can enjoy some of the finest views in Paris.

What you cannot see are any obvious indications that the Women's World Cup is in town, despite there being no city hosting more games at the 2019 tournament than the French capital.

As the sun sets, Canada's Jessie Fleming opens the scoring against New Zealand in Group E in Grenoble, but there is no reaction from the thousands of people enjoying picnics on the Champ de Mars - an iconic spot where big screens had shown matches to packed fan zones during both the 2016 men's European Championship - hosted in France - and the 2018 men's World Cup in Russia.

Women's football is now as popular globally as the sport of golf, according to a report released on 4 June by the data analytics company Nielsen, while Paris is among the world's busiest tourist destinations.

And therefore, while there is a smaller fan zone - albeit one that does not fully open until 14:00 local time - opposite the Forum des Halles shopping centre across town, is the so-called 'City of Light' illuminating the Women's World Cup to as many people as it could be?

On one hand, the attendances and atmospheres at the Parc des Princes have been very impressive - not least at the hosts' spine-tingling opening win over South Korea.

But - aside from the areas immediately around the stadium, south west of the city - banners boosting the event's visibility are hard to come by in the capital.

On the day of world champions USA's match here, free maps of Paris's Metro routes display information on a rugby sevens tournament that finished two weeks previously, while most central station platforms are devoid of any posters of Women's World Cup stars.

The Paris Metro maps available on the network on 16 June were still promoting the Paris Sevens Rugby tournament, which finished a week before the Women's World Cup started.

Adverts for June's Champs-Elysees Film Festival - not the World Cup - are draped along the city's most famous avenue.

At other host cities, promotion for the tournament varies, but is far more visible at some, with the eye-catching roadside electronic adverts for the matches in Reims tough to miss in the champagne region, while almost every shop in the centre of the north-eastern city of Valenciennes has been decorated with flags, scarves or World Cup banners.

Yet, at the spectacular vantage point that can be enjoyed from Place du Trocadero, where large crowds of people hold their smartphones aloft for a picture of the Eiffel Tower, low-cost, unofficial merchandise is displayed for sale on sheets lying on the floor - but there are no football shirts among the miniature towers, the glow sticks and the handbags with semi-recognisable branding.

Even where there are sports tops for sale, at a string of shops near the Louvre, only those displaying the names Mbappe and Neymar can be found among Tour de France jerseys.

"Avez-vous quelque chose des equipes feminines de Coupe du Monde?" I asked hopefully.

"Non, monsieur."

Around Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in Paris which crosses the River Seine, France kits with players' names on are readily available - but only for the men's team.

However, look closely to one side of the Place du Trocadero and there you will see it, directly overlooking the Eiffel Tower - at last, some Women's World Cup branding. It's US broadcaster Fox Sports' studio for the duration of the tournament.

Then there are other moments to lift your spirits, like the small band of Chile fans enjoying a drink on the grass of the Champ de Mars 24 hours before their goalkeeper Christiane Endler's stunning performances against the United States.

Like the enthusiastic, Marseille-supporting taxi driver who declared France's midfield star Amandine Henry to be "magnifique" and warned that Les Bleues were much better than "Monsieur Neville's" England.

Like the hordes of USA fans who swamped the Parc des Princes with their stars and stripes on Sunday, as over 45,000 saw the holders - and the Chile keeper - put on an exhibition.

And like the sea of orange that flooded into the northern cities of Le Havre and Valenciennes from the Netherlands - dancing left, dancing right - to support the European champions.

This is a truly global festival.

So why have the local authorities not adorned Paris' central areas with more visible promotion of the event?

A Fifa spokesperson told BBC Sport: "One of the main promotional objectives is to maximise the audiences, both in front of their screens and in the stadiums. Even though outdoor advertising is a part of that campaign, it is only one of several platforms deployed in this phase.

"In Paris, the outdoor advertising is centralised around the stadium and around the Fifa fan experience."

When questioned about the subject, a spokesman for the Local Organising Committee pointed out that because Paris is the biggest host city and does not possess a clear city centre, efforts were focused on the areas linked to the World Cup like the stadium and the Fifa Fan Experience.

They also pointed out that Paris City Hall had been adorned with World Cup colours.

The Champs-Elysees is full of huge banners promoting a film festival - but not the Women's World Cup.

The Chatelet district houses the temporary Women's World Cup museum - a free and relatively well-produced, educational cuboid of historical information, complete with a shop - as well as the adjacent fan zone, which is closed until midday and only partially open until 14:00.

Fifa says it has also been marketing on radio and TV, as well as hosting a women's football convention in Paris earlier in June, and a spokesperson added: "For the first time in Women's World Cup history, there is a Fifa fan experience in each host city.

"The choice of the location of the fan experience and whether to include a big screen was determined by each host city."

As for the TV audiences, French channel TF1 has had record viewing figures of about 10 million in France for the host nation's first two group matches, and - although the games not involving Les Bleues are not on free-to-air channels here - the home supporters do seem to be gripped by their side's bid for a first title.

UK viewers have similarly set new records for women's football, while Fox Sports in the US has reportedly seen an 11% rise in their audience compared to four years ago.

Indeed, the world is watching the beautiful game in France this summer - you just have to be in the right place to notice it in the nation's most beautiful city.

Media Headlines on World Cup

Europe heatwave: record high of 45C expected in France

Temperature records expected to be broken as minister warns heatwaves could become norm

'Hell is coming': week-long heatwave begins across Europe

Temperatures could hit 40C from Spain to Switzerland, with authorities urging children and older people to stay indoors

World

A heat wave killed 15,000 in France in 2003. As temperatures soar again, officials are taking no chances.

France is postponing exams, opening pools and urging residents to stay hydrated.

Where's FIFA? Failing to promote a fun, high-quality Women's World Cup, that's where

Dan Wetzel

Columnist

   

Women's World Cup: Record-breaking peak of 6.9m watch England beat Cameroon

WWCup: Nearly 11 million TV viewers watch France’s opener

June 8, 2019

LOS ANGELES — The Americans’ 3-0 win over Chile set a record for the most-watched group-stage Women’s World Cup match on U.S. English-language television.

Fox drew 5,324,000 viewers for Sunday’s game, topping 4,492,000 for the Americans’ 0-0 group-stage draw against Sweden in 2015. The game was the most-watched English-language soccer telecast in the country since last year’s men’s World Cup final.

The 2019 Women's World Cup has become the UK's most viewed women's football tournament on television.

The event has achieved a combined TV reach of 17.2 million people, beating the 12.4 million total set for the whole of the 2015 tournament in Canada.

England's win over Scotland set an audience record for a women's football game on UK TV of 6.1 million.

Women’s World Cup TV Viewership Is on a Record Pace

750 million people watched the tournament in 2015; FIFA estimates that nearly 1 billion could tune in this summer 

Germany wins World Cup - a New Star emerges - Christ the Redeemer

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A great soccer game decided the World Cup with the superior precision and physical stamina of Germany finally winning out in overtime.  Argentina had several chances to score and take the lead but exhaustion was evident after the grueling World Cup series.

My suggestion that FIFA allow unlimited substitution and perhaps add a few more players to the roster would go a long ways toward improving the speed and increasing the scoring in football since the entire game strategy right now is to be tied at the end of the match and win in overtime or kickoffs.

So many games in the final rounds ended this way a rule change might make it a lot more interesting to fans and certainly will eliminate the need for the Broadway theatrics of faking injuries to rest or try to trick the umpires into a penalty, either of which is downright unethical and hypocritical.

But in the end the true new superstar was none other than the amazing statue of Christ the Redeemer overlooking the stadium for the finals.  Here is the story on the star.

Christ the Redeemer, Portuguese Cristo Redentor,  colossal statue of Jesus Christ at the summit of Mount Corcovado, Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil. It was completed in 1931 and stands 98 feet (30 metres) tall, its horizontally outstretched arms spanning 92 feet (28 metres). The statue, made of reinforced concrete clad in a mosaic of thousands of triangular soapstone tiles, sits on a square stone pedestal base about 26 feet (8 metres) high, which itself is situated on a deck atop the mountain’s summit. The statue is the largest Art Deco style sculpture in the world and is one of Rio de Janeiro’s most recognizable landmarks.

In the 1850s the Vincentian priest Pedro Maria Boss suggested placing a Christian monument on Mount Corcovado to honour Isabel, princess regent of Brazil and the daughter of Emperor Pedro II , although the project was never approved. In 1921 the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro proposed that a statue of Christ be built on the 2,310-foot (704-metre) summit, which, because of its commanding height, would make it visible from anywhere in Rio. Citizens petitioned Pres. Epitácio Pessoa to allow the construction of the statue on Mount Corcovado.

Permission was granted, and the foundation stone of the base was ceremonially laid on April 4, 1922—to commemorate the centennial on that day of Brazil’s independence from Portugal—although the monument’s final design had not yet been chosen. That same year a competition was held to find a designer, and the Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa was chosen on the basis of his sketches of a figure of Christ holding a cross in his right hand and the world in his left. In collaboration with Brazilian artist Carlos Oswald, Silva Costa later amended the plan; Oswald has been credited with the idea for the figure’s standing pose with arms spread wide. The French sculptor Paul Landowski, who collaborated with Silva Costa on the final design, has been credited as the primary designer of the figure’s head and hands. Funds were raised privately, principally by the church. Under Silva Costa’s supervision, construction began in 1926 and continued for five years. During that time materials and workers were transported to the summit via railway.

After its completion, the statue was dedicated on October 12, 1931. Over the years it has undergone periodic repairs and renovations, including a thorough cleaning in 1980, in preparation for the visit of Pope John Paul II to Brazil that year, and a major project in 2010, when the surface was repaired and refurbished. Escalators and panoramic elevators were added beginning in 2002; previously, in order to reach the statue itself, tourists climbed more than 200 steps as the last stage of the trip. In 2006, to mark the statue’s 75th anniversary, a chapel at its base was consecrated to Our Lady of Aparecida, the patron saint of Brazil.

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World Cup Finals - Can Pope Francis bring Argentina a Miracle on grass?

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Pope Francis and Pope Benedict, it has been 600 years since there were two living Popes, and what are the odds of their home countries playing for the World Cup championship?  About as likely as Obama and Boehner sitting down and working out what is good for our country.

Yet here we are, the last day of the World Cup, and Argentina (Francis) is playing Germany (Benedict) for the world crown.  Who will win?  Germany is the heavy favorite after annihilating the home country Brazil in the semis 7-1 with discipline and precision we've come to expect from Germany.

As for Argentina, the odds of them winning are about as remote as the odds that some radical little people's priest from the poor slums of Argentina could ever be Pope.

As for me, I figure Divine Providence will always be full of surprises so don't be surprised if you see the Argentina flag flying from the Vatican this afternoon and the Argentina World Cup team visiting Rome.

Go Raggedy People!
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So we were supposed to lose the revolution!!! 50-1 is a fair fight!!!

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Latest World Cup odds

USA Loses and still Wins??? Only in Futbol World Cup Style

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Team USA stunned the experts who were expecting a quick exit from their Death Draw in the first round of the Brazil World Cup by losing their final match against Germany yet winning a spot in the next Knockout Round of 16 along with Germany and host Brazil among others.

By Futbol standards it was a great game with the final score 1-0 Germany after 94 minutes of play.  So if there are 10 players on each team I guess that means it took 1880 minutes of accumulated play to get one goal.  (That is in man-minutes).

In the end, it didn't matter that the USA lost because Portugal won and therefore the USA goes to the next round appropriately called the Knockout round.  It is called the Knockout Round because if you lose this time you really do go home.  Of course home might be nice for a team like the USA who had to travel to Brazil for the tournament and then travel over 9,000 miles in Brazil to play just three games.

For some odd reason the four stadiums were each built in different time zones or countries or something so the 600,000 fans from outside the country would not be partying in the same town every night.  The host city is the capitol called Brasilia which was just built in 1960 because it was either in the center of the country or far away from the rowdy towns like Rio de Janeiro.  Still the biggest crowds are in Rio.

Over 150,000 Americans traveled to the World Cup and adopted the nickname "Outlaws" perhaps to fit in with the local syndicates.  For the most part the rest of the world is mad that Brazil got the World Cup, the next Olympics, and Rio just hosted the 2011 Military World Games and the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Party on as they say and no one can party like the lovely people of Brazil.

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