With 40 days to go here are the key announcements in the last week.

FIFA and Canada 2015 news

Everything is awesome!

FIFA announced that Grammy Award winning artist Sarah McLachlan and Juno Award winning duo Tegan and Sara will be the feature artists at the Opening Ceremony on 6 June.

“I’m honoured to be a part of the Opening Ceremony,” said McLachlan.

“As the mother of two daughters, it’s important to have strong female role models for young girls and we are so fortunate right here in Canada to have such an accomplished group of athletes on our Canadian team who inspire us all.”

Sara Quin recorded a quick message on their participation in the Opening Ceremony.

Referees put through paces

The "25th squad" of the World Cup converged on the Home of FIFA in Zurich for their preparation for the World Cup.

29 referees and 44 assistant referees from a total 48 countries underwent medical exams, fitness tests and theoretical and practical sessions between 20 and 24 April.

Refereeing in recent internationals has caused some conjecture but FIFA Head of Refereeing Massimo Busacca believes they will be ready come 6 June.

“We are definitely on the right track. We really worked hard in this seminar,” he said.

“Our work is based on the same philosophy as in men’s refereeing: we aim for quality, uniformity and consistency, while working on positioning and a focus on reading the game."

"We are convinced that with this kind of preparation - through which we also give important attention to the physical and psychological aspects of refereeing - we will try to reduce mistakes and have good performances during the FIFA Women’s World Cup.”

Panini Stickers

Since the exciting news (well I for one am excited!) that Panini will be releasing an album and stickers for the World Cup, the first glimpse of the artwork has been sighted.

Photo Credit: FIFA Photo Credit: FIFA

They look great, right?

Panini will be distributing the sticker in store in some nations while they will be available online for some other nations.

Canada

Host nation Canada has named their 23 player squad for the World Cup.

While the usual suspects are present (Erin McCleod, Christine Sinclair and Sophie Schmidt), coach John Herdman has also included youth in 17 year old midfielder Jessie Fleming while Diana Matheson looks to have won her race against time to return from an ACL.

https://twitter.com/CanadaSoccerEN/status/592758985603883008

France

One of the tournament favourites, Les Bleues has also announced their final 23 player roster for the World Cup.

Philippe Bergeroo has selected a squad that runs deep and is strong across all lines led by defender and captain Wendi Renard.

Is this the year for France?

https://twitter.com/equipedefrance/status/591175915956232192

Japan

While Norio Sasaki has not settled on his final 23, the coach of the defending champions has provided some insight into his thinking as he announced a provisional 35 player squad.

Most notable is that Germany 2011 heroine Homare Sawa has been included. There has been much discussion on whether the former captain will be on the plane for Canada but at the moment she is at least in with a shot.

England

Continental Tyres have released another video in their fantastic #RoadtoCanada series.

This time it is Manchester City forward Toni Duggan speaking about the possible effects of an England World Cup victory.

"To win that gold medal would change the perception of women's football forever," she said.

"It is at that point that it just needs a little bit of success to tip it over the edge. It will be recognised, appreciated and, more importantly, respected."