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The 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup draw takes place Saturday in Ottawa and from that point on, Canada will know exactly what they’re up against when they host the globe’s top nations. Watch the drama unfold in the 2015 FIFA Womens World Cup Draw LIVE NOW on TSN1, TSN3 and TSN4. Canada will undoubtedly be watching the draw closely, since it was largely a stroke of luck – bad luck – that helped derail their 2011 World Cup aspirations. Heading into the 2011 draw as CONCACAF champions, the Canadians found themselves in the second seeding pot for the draw and wound up in one of the toughest groups in the tournament. The Canadians were handed the two-time defending champions from Germany, the top African qualifiers from Nigeria and a French team that went on to finish fourth at the tournament. Of course, scoring just one goal in three group stage matches was the true death knell for Canada, but the stiff competition did the team no favours. So, what does Saturday’s draw have to offer the Canadian women in terms of hope? Well, a lot, it turns out. The first helping hand comes from an expanded field. The tournament has expanded from 16 to 24 total teams for the 2015 World Cup, with 16 of those advancing to the knockout stage. The top two teams in each group will automatically qualify for the knockouts as will, the top four third-place teams. In simple mathematical terms, the odds of advancing just improved from 50/50 to a two-in-three chance. The other bounce the Canadians will be getting is that they automatically fall into the top seeding group as tournament hosts, meaning they are guaranteed to be free of the top five teams in the world during the group stage. This advantage can not be stressed enough, since two of those five teams wound up in their group last time around. The other five nations emerging as top seeds include: Japan, the United States, Germany, Brazil and France. In order, that’s: the reigning Champions, the reigning Olympic gold medalists, a two-time World Cup champion, a team that has won all but one South American title ever handed out, and the fourth-ranked team in the world. With a two-in-three chance of advancement, the likelihood of a true Group of Death at this tournament is diminished. That said, there is no shortage of scenarios that could make a team’s opening round uncomfortable and – by proxy – make their potential road through the knockout stage a nightmare. The first land mine for any tough group draw will likely come from the European pot: Pot 4. Teams in that group include: Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, England, Norway and the Netherlands. For those unaccustomed to the recent history of women’s soccer, that’s a group that includes: a Norwegian team that has made at least the semifinals in four of five previous World Cups including winning the 1995 title, a Swedish team that has made two of the last three semifinals and an England team that went unbeaten in European qualifying and outscored their opponents 52-1. Pot 3, which houses the remaining Asian and African qualifiers, also has its share of tough draws. Its six teams are: Australia, China, Korea Republic, Thailand, Colombia and Ecuador. The strength of the Asian qualifying tournament displays just how tough three of these teams are. Keep in mind that Japan enters this tournament as defending champions and Olympic silver medalists. Australia tied Japan in Asian qualifying, and China and Korea drew on the other side of the tournament. Japan needed extra-time to get by China in the tournament semis and beat Australia by a 1-0 margin in the Asian Cup Final. Three of these teams can hang in there with the champs and could make life very difficult for one of the top seeds. The least threatening pot is likely Pot 2, which houses the African and Oceanic qualifiers as well as the remaining CONCACAF teams: Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Costa Rica, Mexico and New Zealand. That said, it’s a group that still includes a Continental Champion in Nigeria and a New Zealand team that comes in just outside the top 16 teams at the tournament according to the latest FIFA rankings. But what does all this mean for Canada and the top contenders? The possibilities for Canada are vast, since the only guarantees they have are that they will not be drawn with Mexico or Costa Rica out of Pot 2. Since the rules dictate that no team in Pots 2 or 3 can be drawn with a team from their own confederation, Canada will get either New Zealand or one of the African nations in their group. The best news is for Japan. Under the aforementioned confederation rules, they are guaranteed to avoid Australia, Korea Republic and China in the group phase. Brazil, meanwhile, has a 75 per cent chance of getting one of the three. For the other five teams, however, the possibilities are nearly endless. With all due respect to the 24 qualified teams for their achievements in advancing to the Women’s World Cup, here is a best- and worst-case scenario for Team Canada heading into Saturday’s draw based on FIFA’s World Rankings. Best case (FIFA rankings in parentheses): Canada (8), Switzerland (18), Ecuador (49), Ivory Coast (64). Worst case (FIFA rankings in parentheses): Canada (8), Sweden (6), Australia (10), New Zealand (19). Watch the drama unfold in the 2015 FIFA Womens World Cup Draw live Saturday at Noon et/9am pt on TSN1, TSN3 and TSN4. See below for a full table of the seeding pots. Womens World Cup Seeding Pots POT 1 POT 2 POT 3 POT 4 Brazil Cameroon Australia England Canada Costa Rica China Netherlands France Ivory Coast Colombia Norway Germany Mexico Ecuador Spain Japan New Zealand Korea Republic Sweden United States Nigeria Thailand Switzerland Draw rules: No team from Pot 1 may be drawn with a team from their own conference from Pots 2 or 3. Every group will have at least one European qualifier. Adam Jones Jersey . Locke overcame a shaky start to pitch seven innings and Josh Harrison had three hits to extend his hot streak as the Pirates beat the Miami Marlins 7-3 on Wednesday night. Jim Thome Jersey .com) - Quarterback Cardale Jones will return to Ohio State next season. https://www.cheaporioles.com/1328i-luis-...ey-orioles.html. UCI President Brian Cookson said Wednesday the commission will investigate allegations "that the UCI has been involved in wrongdoing in the past -- allegations which have done so much to hurt the credibility of the UCI and our sport. Tom Phoebus Jersey . The two teams will play through the completion of the game starting at 5pm ct on Wednesday. The regularly scheduled Wednesday night matchup will follow that and will now be seven innings. Wholesale Orioles Jerseys . CHAUNCEY BILLUPS (Pistons): Yes they got Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings in the off-season and Andre Drummond is a beast (teams are kicking themselves for passing on him - he rebounds and block shots every game - thats two more discernable and significant skills than most guys in his draft class), but dont for a second discount the impact of having a savvy veteran like Billups on your team.Mercedes and Red Bull could be poised for a close battle at the front of the Hungarian GP after all, after the two teams set all-but identical lap times in Practice Three. F1 world champions Mercedes confounded pre-weekend expectations by totally dominating Fridays practice running, but on Saturday morning, Red Bull suddenly unlocked some more competitive pace.And, via an impressive late flying lap, Max Verstappen finished just 0.002 seconds adrift of pacesetter Nico Rosberg to whet the appetite ahead of qualifying, which begins at 1pm live on Sky Sports F1. But Lewis Hamilton was only fourth in the second Mercedes on his return to the track after his P2 crash and unusually finished half a second back on team-mate Rosberg. Daniel Ricciardo was third in the other Red Bull.Hamilton made several mistakes when out on track and Mercedes mechanics replaced his seat after the world champion reported discomfort. The original one was damaged in his accident. How genuine was that lap from Red Bull? pondered Sky F1s David Croft. We will only find out in qualifying.When is Qualifying on Sky F1?While they did not find as much time as Red Bull, Ferrari also closed on Mercedes in final practice - although Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel remained more than half a second off the pace in fifth and sixth places respectively.Fernando Alonso continued McLarens encouraging practice form to take seventh, while Jolyon Palmer rebounded from a forgettable Friday to secure a rare top-10 finish for Renault.Williams showed the first signns of top-10 form as Valtteri Bottas took eighth, with Sergio Perez sneaking into the top 10 late on in the lead Force India.dddddddddddd. As on Friday, drivers were again regularly running with all four wheels off the track at Turn Four - and the FIA has confirmed they will adopt a zero tolerance policy to such viloations of track limits in qualifying.A drivers lap time will be deleted if he strays 20cm or more beyond the white line at turns four and 11.Practice Three timesheet1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:20.2612. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:20.2633. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:20.7264. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:20.7695. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:20.8596. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:21.1857. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:21.5848. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:21.6499. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:21.67210. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:21.93511. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:21.97512. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:21.98913. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:22.00914. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:22.14215. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:22.28416. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:22.40217. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:22.42718. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:22.54119. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:22.81620. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:23.21921. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:23.31122. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:23.513 Also See: When does Qualifying start? The Formula 1 gossip column Hamiltons engine plight Get a NOW TV weekend pass ' ' '