FIFA Women's World Cup to get underway amid turbulent period for football

Soccer Canada President Victor Montagliani feels the FIFA Women's World Cup can shine some light on the sport ©Getty Images

The FIFA Women’s World Cup can "shine some light on the game that has perhaps lost a little of its moral compass,” according to Soccer Canada President Victor Montagliani.

The tournament in Canada, which begins tomorrow, is set to be the biggest in the competition’s history with 24 nations participating for the first time, but has been somewhat overshadowed by recent tumultuous events concerning world football’s governing body.

Amid a continuous storm of corruption allegations, indictments and suspensions, the pre-Women’s World Cup press conference was dominated by questions about the state of the organisation.

Current President Sepp Blatter, who shocked the world by announcing he is to step down from his role on Tuesday (June 2), and secretary general Jerome Valcke are not expected to attend the tournament.

Valcke was due to travel to Canada for the Opening Ceremony but opted not to owing to the current perilous situation world football’s governing body finds itself in.

“I think we should all thank that it's the women's game and the Women's World Cup that is immediately following here,” Montagliani said.

“Because I think it's an opportunity for women's football to shine some light on the game that has perhaps lost a little of its moral compass.”

Organisers of the competition, which comes to a conclusion on July 5, have announced they don’t expect the tournament to be affected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation into FIFA.

"As the host nation for the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015, the Canadian Soccer Association is confident that the current situation will not impact the competition,” a statement read.

“We are positive that the 30 days of competition will bring exciting soccer to all fans in Canada and around the world.”

The seventh FIFA Women’s World Cup begins when hosts Canada take on China in the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton tomorrow, which is set to attract a record 52,000 attendance for a women’s match.

The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup will be the biggest in the competition's history ©Getty Images

New Zealand then play The Netherlands in the other contest in Group A on the opening day.

Group B begins Sunday (June 7) when Norway face Thailand, who are making their first-ever appearance on the World Cup stage, before Germany entertain another debutant in the Ivory Coast.

Cameroon, Ecuador, Switzerland and 2011 winners Japan make up Group C, while Group D consists of Australia, United States, Sweden and Nigeria.

Brazil, South Korea, Spain and Czech Republic form Group E and Colombia, Mexico, France and England will battle it out in Group F.

The hosts have been predicted to reach the final against two-time winners Germany according to research undertaken by an analytics team from Infrostrada Sports.

The company say the German side will claim a third trophy, saying they have a 64 per cent chance of beating Canada in the tournament’s showpiece match.

Japan and the United States are predicted to get as far as the last four.