Women's World Cup Day 14 Open Thread

The Women's World Cup Quarterfinals begin, as Germany takes on France at 1:00pm, while the United States faces China at 4:30pm.

The top teams out of UEFA meet much earlier than expected in this Top 3 match-up, as #1 Germany, led by tournament top scorers Anja Mittag and Selia Sasic with 5 goals each and 19 goals through 4 matches, while Nadine Angerer and the German defense has only allowed 2 goals.  France comes into this match led by leading goalscorers Eugenie Le Sommer and Marie-Laure Delie, with 3 goals each, while Sarah Bouhaddi and the French defense have only conceded 2 goals through 4 matches.  Germany has had a relatively easy road to this match, only truly being challenged by Norway in the Group stage in their only draw, while France suffered the shock of the tournament, as they lost to Colombia in their second match, but recovered to defeat Mexico 5-0 and South Korea 3-0.  In their most recent meeting, France defeated Germany 2-0 in October.

The United States and China meet in a rematch of the 1999 World Cup Final, which the United States famously won on penalty kicks, but much has changed in the women's game in the past 16 years.  The United States remain the favorites in this match, but will have to so it without creator and top goalscorerer Megan Rapinoe and Lauren Holiday, both of whom have been suspended for this match, but the U.S. has plenty of strong players to move into their positions in the lineup.  China has battled to earn results in each of their matches since a last-minute loss to Canada in the opener, and are led in scoring by Wang Lisi and Wang Shanshan, but have relied on their strong defense to keep them in matches, as the young Chinese side has proven to be a tough opponent to crack, only allowing 3 goals.  The United States and China last met in December, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Germany vs. France

Kickoff: 1:00pm

Watch: FOX or streaming on Fox Sports Go and NBC Universo

United States vs. China

Kickoff: 4:30pm

Watch: FOX or streaming on Fox Sports Go  and NBC Universo