After some tinkering with the scheduling, the 2021 edition of the women’s world lacrosse championship has now been confirmed. The United States are the hosts for the tournament which will run for 11 days from Wednesday July 7th, through to Saturday July 17th.
No fewer than 30 nations will be represented at the competition but what can we expect from this showpiece occasion?
The Format
As with previous tournaments, the 2021 edition of the women’s world lacrosse championships will feature an initial group stage. Those 30 nations will be divided into sections and each team will play each other once in that opening phase. At the end of that sequence, the best performing teams will move on to the critical part of the tournament with the aim of reaching the final and lifting the crown.
We’re now through to the Championship stage which is, effectively, a series of knockout games involving the strongest nations. From the quarter finals all the way to the final itself, these are one off matches: The winner progresses to the next round while the losing team makes way. Eventually, we have a final and there is a consolation match to determine who will walk away with the bronze medal.
Speaking of consolations, the teams who don’t make it out of the groups and into the Championship stage are not automatically eliminated. A series of additional games is also included in the world lacrosse tournament in order to sort out the minor places. It’s quite a complex format for a competition of this kind but it’s one that ensures we have top class lacrosse across the whole of the 11 days.
The Front Runners
Every lacrosse fan will have an opinion on the outcome of the 2021 women’s world championships while the betting markets offer a good independent view. The host nation certainly has its supporters and American betting sites linked to sbo.net will show the United States as clear favourites.
As the markets continue to open up, Australia, Scotland, England and Canada will be among the closest challengers. The tournament will draw closer and sbo.net will update those odds while offering some news and opinion on the major sporting events across the world. Offers and promotions from selected sportsbooks will also appear so this is an interesting website for anyone looking to take a bet on the tournament.
History on their side
2021’s World Lacrosse Championship will be the eleventh edition of the most important competition in the women’s game. Of the previous ten runnings of the event, only two countries have ever lifted the trophy while a small pool of five teams have claimed a medal of any kind.
Looking more closely at those statistics, we find that the United States have won no fewer than eight of those ten previous championships. Of the remaining two tournaments, Australia have won both of them. The Aussies’ last victory came back in 2005 which means that the US have won each of the last three world titles.
For reference, the other three teams to have won bronze or better are Canada, Scotland and England.
The Verdict
In ten previous editions of the women’s world lacrosse championships, the United States have never claimed anything less than a silver medal. That’s an outstanding run and it suggests that the host nation are the team to beat when the tournament returns this summer.
For the so-called ‘minor’ nations, having a series of consolation games in place is important for their development. It’s unlikely that countries such as Jamaica, Latvia, Argentina, Uganda and Hong Kong will make it out of the group stage but they will remain involved and that can only be a good thing.
Lacrosse needs to evolve and retaining these teams, as opposed to sending them home as soon as they fail, is a big benefit of the tournament structure. In time, they will grow and perhaps the United States dominance of the major global events will eventually come to an end.
For now, lacrosse fans can only wait for the start of the eleventh edition of the women’s world championships. Many will feel that there is no doubt in regards to the overall winners but there will certainly be some entertainment provided along the way.
