Fifa has released a provisional match timetable for the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada 2015.
Following a meeting of the executive council of soccer’s world governing body in Zurich last week, the organisation said fans across the globe can now pencil in their 2015 calendars with the schedule for the world’s largest women’s soccer tournament, running from 6 June until 5 July 2015.
The Canadian local organising committee (LOC) said the much sought-after tickets for the tournament will go on sale from July next year.
In a statement, Fifa said the competition would kick off with the opening ceremony and first matches in Edmonton, Alberta, one of six host cities along with Ottawa in Ontario, Montreal in Quebec, Winnipeg in Manitoba, Moncton in New Brunswick and Vancouver in British Columbia.
“In total, 52 matches will be played over 30 days from coast to coast in six venues,” it added, with the final match played in Vancouver.
As the host team, Canada have been named as the A1 seeds, which means that they will play their first two group matches in Edmonton.
In addition, the tournament will have its biggest ever field of 24 teams from around the world, which Fifa described as “a milestone in women’s football as the beautiful game continues to grow in all regions of the globe”.
Qualification matches for the Women’s World Cup start this month in Europe, with preliminary matches continuing worldwide till November 2014, which sees the play-off games between the third-placed team from South America and fourth-placed team from North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Tournament spots are open for five teams from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), three teams from the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF), three or four teams from Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf), two or three teams from the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (Conmebol), eight teams from Uefa and one team from the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).
In the meantime, Fifa said it is currently working out details for the U-20 Women’s World Cup which will be played in Canada in 2014.
