U.S., Swedish Women to Open World Soccer Championships

The favored United States will play highly regarded Sweden here today in the first women’s World Soccer Championships.

A dozen teams are divided into three groups of four in the opening phase of the two-week competition. Eight teams will advance past round-robin play, the first two in each group plus two wild cards. After that, the tournament is single-elimination competition.

The U.S. and Sweden are in Group B, which also includes Brazil and Japan. China, Norway, Denmark and New Zealand are in Group A. Germany, Italy, Taiwan and Nigeria comprise Group C.

After its opener with Sweden on Sunday, the U.S. plays Brazil on Tuesday and Japan on Thursday.

The U.S. has grown into a world power by beating Norway, Germany and China in exhibitions and regional tournaments. The Americans qualified for the world championship in April by romping through the regional qualifying event and outscoring five opponents 49-0.