The last Women's
World Cup was the best edition of the tournament yet, so a lot of people
were pretty upset when FIFA decided to expand it. The result would be
more uncompetitive matches, like the one between Germany and the Ivory
Coast on Sunday. Les Elephants got crushed, 10-0, and everyone's worst
fears came true.
Germany are the best team in
the world and Ivory Coast are the lowest ranked team to ever qualify for
a World Cup. This was possibly the most lopsided matchup in World Cup
history, and it may never be topped. But for a blowout, it wasn't that
awful -- Rebecca Elloh had a big chance for Ivory Coast at 1-0, and
another one at 3-0. Late in the second half, Ange N'Guessan put a clear
header over the bar. And the end result wasn't the most lopsided in the
tournament's history -- that came in 2007, when Germany beat Argentina
11-0.
Expanding the tournament gives
opportunities to new countries and gives dozens of nations incentive to
invest resources in women's football when they had unfunded, DIY-style
programs previously. The cost? It's this, at worst. Because this is the
worst it's going to get. The best team in the tournament drew the worst
team, the win wasn't even by a record margin, and the blown-out team had
three really good scoring chances.
Now we're through it. It's
over. And if this game was the worst thing that's going to happen as a
result of the field expanding, it was undoubtedly a good thing. We can
get on with the rest of the World Cup knowing that we won't see another
match that thoroughly uncompetitive, while a bunch of first-time
qualifiers will fight for knockout stage places.
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