New Zealand will start their world cup campaign on Wednesday. Photo / Photosport
Twenty-four teams will be attempting to win the magnificently titled La Coupe du Monde Feminine, starting today as France take on South Korea, and their journeys show why this tournament is so significant.
Phil Neville, the England manager, has been full of enthusiasm for the wholehearted support his team have
received from the Football Association. He has spoken in awe of being flown by private jet, of the supercharged amenities open to them at St George's Park, of being gifted exactly the same preparation as his male counterparts. But such backing is by no means the norm among the teams competing here.
Many of those arriving in France have done so despite rather than because of their national football organisations. Argentina qualified after a two-year period with no games, no coach and no world ranking, as the women players battled with their own FA over equal access to facilities.
Chile's FA disbanded its women's team after they failed to make it to the last World Cup and they did not play for 981 days until regrouped in time to qualify this time.
Jamaica are only here thanks to the backing of Cedella Marley, Bob's daughter, who restarted the national side in 2013 after it had not played a fixture for four years.
