Women's World Cup 2019: Everything you need to know

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It's time to get excited because the Women's World Cup has finally kicked off!

In the tournament's opening match on 7 June, hosts France beat South Korea 4-0 in a packed stadium in Paris.

The competition will be held across nine cities, with the semi-final and final being played in Lyon.

It will continue until 7 July and will be live on the BBC.

Here's an introduction to the teams, a guide on who to look out for, and a chat with some of the England and Scotland players ahead of their first match against each other on 9 June.

Media caption,

WATCH: England Women's footballers Karen Carney, Georgia Stanaway, Ellie Roebuck, Keira Walsh, Millie Bright and Jade Moore answer your questions

Which countries are taking part?

There are 24 teams playing in the competition - including England and Scotland - and they are split into six groups.

The teams play everyone in their group before heading to the knock-out phase.

The top two teams in each group, plus four third-placed teams with the most points, progress to the knockout phase.

From there, it's a traditional knockout tournament, win or go home!

Media caption,

WATCH: Scotland players Lana Clelland and Christie Murray answer your questions

Who is expected to win?

There are four top contenders to look out for.

France are aiming to become just the second host nation to reach the World Cup final after the USA, who went on to win the trophy in 1999.

The French side have lost just once in two years prior to June and have beaten the two most recent world champions, Japan and the USA, in the past six months.

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The US are the reigning World Cup champions

USA are the defending champions and world's top-ranked side. They have never finished lower than third at a World Cup. A dominant run of 32 wins and just one defeat in 38 games going into this tournament suggests the USA are the team to beat once again.

In Germany 2011, Japan turned on the style by sweeping to the final and being crowned world champions after a memorable penalty shoot-out against USA.

However, England have never had a better chance of becoming world champions, they are third in the Fifa rankings and won this year's SheBelieves Cup ahead of the USA, Japan and Brazil.

What country will you be supporting? Let us know in the comments below.

All the Women's World Cup groups

Group A

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France, South Korea, Norway, Nigeria.

Group B

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Germany, China, Spain, South Africa.

Group C

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Australia, Italy, Brazil, Jamaica.

Group D

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England, Scotland, Argentina, Japan

Group E

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Canada, Cameroon, New Zealand, Netherlands

Group F

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USA, Thailand, Chile, Sweden