Although former world champions Norway may get bigger chance to qualify, Canada, Australia and Ghana have enough strength to challenge the traditional powerhouse.

Norway are the favorites within this group literally as they have won both the World Cup and the Olympic titles in the past 12 years, and have been remaining as one of the world's highest ranking teams. The Nordic outfit won the Sweden World Cup in 1995,and became the champions at 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Yet, Norway have suffered a lot since their quarter-final defeat by hosts the United States in the 2003 World Cup, which also meant they missed the chance to defend their Olympic title at2004 Athens Games. Their long-ball style was doubted and they thought something must be changed to suit the technical trend of women's soccer.

But coach Bjarne Berntsen's arrival improved the situation, he introduced a more flexible style and rejuvenated the squad with new bloods. 16-year-old Isabell Herlovsen and Stine Frantzen from the Under-19 team are two brilliant talents of the current team.

Playmaker Solveig Gulbrandsen's comeback after giving birth to her first child will boost the squad, while experienced keeper Bente Nordby and defender Ana Stangeland may safeguard their goalmouth. Madeleine Giske, Elise Thorsnes, Guro Knutsen and Melissa Wiik are other players to attract one's eyes in the upcoming showpiece tournament.

Norway enjoyed an easy qualifying round to the World Cup finals as they dropped only two of the maximum 24 points from eight matches to become the first European team to book a ticket to China.

Group competitors Ukraine, Serbia, Greece and Italy could do nothing to stop the Norwegians in the qualifying process.

With a target of reaching the top three, Berntsen's side is likely to top Group C. But the process would not be smooth as the team lacks outstanding terminators up front, which may be capitalized by their opponents.

Canada has the depth to test Norway undoubtedly. The runners-up of the CONCACAF showed their power in the final game of the qualifying rounds against giants USA. The Canadians fought hard on the pitch and held the Americans to the last few seconds of 120 minutes, before a Kristine Lilly penalty made all the difference.

The Canadian side likes to use the approach based on physical strength and quick attacking. Christine Sinclair, Charmaine Hooper, Sharolta Nonen and Christine Latham are the star players of the team. Canada get their best result at the 2003 World Cup after losing to Sweden in the semi-finals.

Even Pellerud, head coach of Canada, is the former boss of the Norwegian women's soccer team, which is an advantageous factor for Canada when the two sides meet at their first group match on September 12.

Australia have taken part in the last three World Cup, but failed to get a single victory. However, with a squad mixed with old guns and young impulse, the Matildas are far from a force to be overlooked.

Cheryl Salisbury is the team's evergreen captain; the 33-year-old still holds the side's caps and goals records. Youngsters like Saly Shipard, Collette McCallum and Kylie Ledbrook are sprouting in the team. The Aussies are ambitious this time and will not be scared easily by strong rivals.

Australia showed their improvement in last year's Women's Asian Cup on home soil, when they held DPR Korea in the group stage and beat Japan 2-0 in the semi-finals, before defeated by China through penalty shootout in the final. And the Aussies' recently two away victories over China were very impressive.

Ghana's technical style is quite different from the other three teams. The Black Queens like to dance on the pitch carefreely with individual skills, and when they scored firstly the game may come under their dominance.

Ghana will go to China with an experienced squad, in which half of the players competed in the USA four years ago. Former African Women's Footballer of the Year Adjoa Bayor is the ace player of the team. Veteran goalkeeper Gladys Enti and versatile Lydia Ankrah are other influential names in the squad. In the forward line a speedy Anita Amankwa may produce some surprise.

The last two World Cup tours are disappointing for the Ghanaians as they were eliminated at the first round on both occasions. But they took a memorable first ever win in the World Cup over Australia in 2003.

Ghana qualified for their third World Cup finals as the second-placed team of the African region after losing 1-0 to Nigeria in the finals.