2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.

The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup is slowly approaching and I for one, cannot wait!

The only downside of the #FifaWWC is that my beloved Ireland didn't qualify for the tournament (what's new lol) but even though my nation won't be taking part, it doesn't mean I can't enjoy it! Right?

The tournament starts on the 7th of June till the 7th of July and it will be held in France.

Here are the 24 countries who qualified:

- Argentina

- Australia

- Brazil

- Cameroon

- Canada

- Chile

- China PR

- England

- France

- Germany

- Italy

- Jamaica

- Japan

- Korea Republic

- Netherlands

- New Zealand

- Nigeria

- Norway

- Scotland

- South Africa

- Spain

- Sweden

- Thailand

- USA

FASHION IN FOOTBALL.

Sporting brands have been releasing their WWC kits all week and it's gotten me extremely excited, so lets take a look!

Here are all the Nike football kits which were unveiled in Paris this week.

Its extremely difficult to choose one favorite, as they are all simply stunning, but if I had to pick a top 5 it would be:

Nigeria (home)

Australia (home)

England (away)

France (away)

USA (home)

Adidas have also released some of their new kits this week.

These Adidas kits are extremely eye-catching, and I especially love the detail in the numbers on the Swedish shirt. Although I do think Nike have hit the ball out of the park on this one, with the overall release and media hype. I am unsure if Adidas released any more kits as I haven't seen much online.

Then you have other countries, like Italy for example, who are sponsored by Puma,

and Jamaica who are sponsored by Umbro, which you can see in the picture below.

Jamaica

Umbro sent this kit out to me when it was released and I really love the design, retro vibes and Rasta colours. I will definitely be rocking this shirt a lot this summer!

Ok, enough about the Fashion side of football, lets get down to the tournament itself:

WWC History.

In 1988 – 58 years after the first Men's FIFA World Cup tournament in 1930 and approximately 17 years after the FA ban on women's football was eliminated in 1971 – FIFA hosted an invitational in China as a test to see if a global women's World Cup was feasible. Twelve national teams took part in the competition – four from UEFA, three from AFC, two from CONCACAF and one each from CONMEBOL, CAF and OFC. The tournament saw European Champions Norway defeatSweden 1–0 in the final to win the tournament, while Brazil clinched third place by beating the hosts in a penalty shootout. The competition was deemed a success and on 30 June FIFA approved the establishment of an official World Cup, which was to take place in 1991 again in China. Again, twelve teams competed.

The USA won it, with Norway finishing 2nd and Sweden 3rd.

1995 - Norway, Germany, USA.

1999 - USA, China PR, Brazil.

2003 - Germany, Sweden, USA.

2007 - Germany, Brazil, USA.

2011 - Japan, USA, Sweden.

2015 - USA, Japan, England.

Women's World Cup FRANCE - Stadiums.

9 Stadiums across France were chosen to host the games.

Lyon - Parc Olympique Lyonnais (Capacity: 59,186)

Paris - Parc des Princes (Capacity: 48,583)

Nice - Allianz Riviera (Capacity: 35,624)

Montpellier - Stade de la Mosson (Capacity: 32,900)

Rennes - Roazhon Park (Capacity: 29,164)

La Harve - Stade Océane (Capacity: 25,178)

Valenciennes - Stade du Hainaut (Capacity: 25,172)

Reims - Stade Auguste-Delaune (Capacity: 21,127)

Grenoble - Stade des Alpes (Capacity: 20,068)

I am hoping to go over to France to vlog a few games if I can but, If you are trying to buy tickets, make sure you buy them from the official FIFA website.

I have been trying to plan my trip and I have come across certain websites charging over €200 per ticket when you can get tickets from as little as €7 on the FIFA WWC website.

DON'T BE FOOLED by these thieves!

BRAVO ADIDAS!

Adidas have come out with a spectacular statement in the lead up to the World Cup which should not go unnoticed!

Us women in sport know just how hard it can be to get support or recognition for what we do and how well we play, and although things have greatly progressed over the years, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Adidas have really made a massive impression on the world with this gesture and I hope other companies follow suit.

As I said earlier, I will be vlogging throughout the WWC and I hope you watch along.

Enjoy the World Cup and let me know who YOU will be supporting!

Thanks for reading,

Noelle.