Netball World Cup 2019: All you need to know

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Netball World Cup: The facts you need to know

The 2019 Netball World Cup takes place from the 12-21 July.

The international tournament, which is held every four years, will see 16 squads from across the world battling it out for the coveted title of World Champions .

The England team, who are also known as the Roses, will be hosting the 15th edition of the World Cup, with the tournament taking place at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool.

This year marks the fourth time the World Cup has been held in the UK.

Let us know which team you are rooting for this year and leave a message in the comments below!

Here's everything you need to know.

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Watch: Members of the 'ball patrol' are inspired by the Netball World Cup

Since England won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games last year, the number of people playing football has grown. 130,000 people have come back to the sport with 1.4 million people playing in England.

Grace, Eva, Ruby, Faye and Emily are ball girls at the world cup called 'ball patrol'. They'll be closer to the action than anyone and they spoke to Newsround about why they are inspired by the world cup.

QUIZ

Can you figure out the nicknames of these eight teams competing in this year's World Cup?

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Who's taking part this year?

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The Australian team are the defending champions having won the World Cup in 2015

As this year's hosts, England automatically qualified to take part in the 2019 tournament, along with the top five teams in the world rankings.

These are reigning World champions Australia, along with New Zealand, Jamaica, South Africa and Malawi.

The remaining competitors were selected through qualifier events which took place last year.

Northern Ireland, Scotland, Fiji, Samoa, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Sri Lanka and Singapore make up the remainder of this year's teams.

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Players speak ahead of the Netball World Cup

Teams to watch out for

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Australia, also known as 'the Diamonds', are the team to beat. They're currently sitting at the top of the International Netball Federation (INF) world rankings and won the World Cup in 2007, 2011 and 2015.

Jamaica are ranked just behind Australia in second place, with England's 'Roses' holding third place.

England go into the tournament with high hopes following their Commonwealth Games gold win in Australia last year.

But the Scottish 'Thistles' netball team have recently risen to seventh in the world rankings, the highest in their history, with Northern Ireland just one place behind. Could an underdog provide a shock at this tournament? We'll soon find out.

Who is Jude?

Jude is the Netball World Cup 2019 mascot.

The bright bird was created by 10-year-old netball fan Orla, who won the mascot design competition.

As well as seeing her creation come to life, Orla won tickets to the opening ceremony and will walk the mascot out in front at the tournament.

What do we know about the home nation squads?

England

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England beat Australia at the Commonwealth games in 2018

  1. England's coach this year is Tracey Neville. Tracey is a retired netball player and will be stepping down from her role after the tournament to start a family.

  2. England won the Netball International Series last year after beating Uganda 66-37. They be facing the East African nation once again during their first World Cup match on July 12.

  3. The Roses also won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games following an incredibly close match against Australia.

Scotland

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The Scotland netball team are known as the Scottish Thistles

  1. The Scotland netball team are known as the Scottish Thistles.

  2. The Thistles beat both Wales and Northern Ireland to make it to the World Cup this year. They qualified in 9th place.

  3. Scotland finished in 9th position in the 2018 Commonwealth games.

Northern Ireland

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Northern Ireland took on Fiji during in their fifth match during the Commonwealth games 2018

  1. The Northern Ireland netball team are ranked eighth in the world.

  2. The country's highest finishing was at the 1983 World Cup. They finished in seventh place.

  3. This year will see Northern Ireland's twelfth appearance at a World Cup.

Coverage will be available on BBC Two and via the BBC iPlayer.