The launch event for the FIFA Women's World Cup.
With all the scandal that has been pouring out of football’s governing body FIFA, a lot of the build-up to this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada has gone under the radar, but Google has now celebrated it with a Doodle.
This year’s World Cup marks the seventh in the competition’s history, and also the first time that it has been hosted by the North American country, compared with its neighbour the US, which has hosted the tournament twice — in 1999 and 2003.
This year also marks the latest expansion in the number of teams that are competing — increasing by eight to a total of 24 teams.
The centrepiece of today’s Doodle is most definitely the Canadian maple leaf, symbol of the country, along with a colourful collage of women’s football.
Sadly, Ireland are not participating in this year’s competition, even with the talents of Stephanie Roche, who just missed out on the FIFA Puskás Award earlier this year, having made the final three along with the superstars of James Rodriguez and Robin Van Persie.
This year’s tournament will begin tomorrow (Saturday 6 June) with the host nation to kick-off against China, with the final taking place just under a month later on 5 July in Vancouver.
FIFA Women’s World Cup launch image via Mack Male/Flickr
