Preview

A busy stretch of matches in the NWSL kicks off this weekend, with most teams set to play three games in the next nine days. Carli Lloyd is back with the Houston Dash, but that wasn’t enough to stop them from losing at home to an Orlando Pride side powered by Marta. The Pride added Alex Morgan back to their roster this week, who is still recovering from her injury in the UEFA Champions League Final. 

NWSL Standings After Week 9: 

North Carolina Courage: 21 points (+6 GD)

Chicago Red Stars: 17 (+4 GD)

Sky Blue FC: 16 (+1 GD)

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup Preview: Australia 

History and Background

Football hasn’t always been a major sport in Australia. Although the national team was formed in 1922, the country didn’t participate in the first seven World Cups. When they did decide to start participating, they failed to qualify in their first two tries — losing to North Korea in the playoffs for 1966 and Israel in ’70.

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup Preview: Germany

History and Background

Like Gary Lineker once said, “Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.” It’s no surprise that Die Mannschaft are by far the most historically successful team at this tournament, having won four World Cups and three European Championships. 

History and Background 

Chile started playing football very early, with their football federation founded all the way back in 1885 — the second oldest in South America. However, they struggled to produce to a dangerous side for a long time. La Roja participated in the first World Cup held in 1930, but failed to advance past the group stage. Their best ever record in the tournament came in 1962 when they hosted it, coming in third. 

History and Background 

Portugal won their first ever elusive international title last summer, which came at a very unexpected time given their squad was one of the weakest since the golden generation emerged in 2000. Especially defeating the hosts France in the final without Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal really punched above their weight to write a true underdog story.

History and Background

Cameroon may be the giants of Africa, with up to five African Cup of Nations titles — the second most successful nation in the tournament — and seven appearances in the World Cup — the most from an African team. However, they have failed to replicate that success on the world stage. 

Their second ever appearance at the World Cup was a magical one, as they narrowly fell to England in the quarterfinals of the 1990 edition. But apart from that, they have failed to even get out of the group stage in their other six appearances. 

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup Preview: Mexico

History and Background

Since the Confederations Cup began in 1992, Mexico have only missed out on three occasions — making them joint leaders in participation alongside Brazil with seven appearances. They hosted the tournament in 1999 and ended up winning it, beating their arch-rivals the United States in the semifinals and then Brazil in the final. 

History and Background

This will be New Zealand’s fourth ever presence in the Confederations Cup. A small island nation’s previous record hasn’t been so good, losing eight out of nine matches and only scoring twice. They will, however, hope to erase all the terrible memories and put on a good show against the three superior sides in the group.

The Big Game between Mexico and the United States may have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean attention should shift away from CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. What happens in tonights' Hexagonal fixtures between Panama/Honduras and Costa Rica/Trinidad & Tobago will put the final standings into greater focus with only four matches remaining.