By Mel Portela Gil
The FIFA Women’s World Cup will kick off in Australia and New Zealand on July 20th, 2023, at 3 a.m. Eastern Time, ending on August 20th, 2023.
The tournament will expand from 24 to 32 teams and be the first World Cup held in the Southern Hemisphere.The World Cup separates the tournament from the group stage, finishing on August 3rd; moving to the Round of 16 on August 5th. The quarterfinals start August 31st, and the semifinals start August 15th.
The Women’sWorld Cup will take place over the summer, which is different from 2022’s FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar, in the winter. During the tournament, six venues in Australia will host 35 games. Four stadiums in New Zealand will stage 29 matches.
The World Cup final will be on August 20th at Stadium Australia in Sydney.
The United States qualified by winning its group at the Concacaf W Championship in Mexico last summer. Canada, Jamaica, and Costa Rica also qualified directly from the region.
Eleven European teams qualified through UEFA’s competition. Australia and New Zealand qualified since they are the hosts. China and Brazil qualified by winning their respective continental tournaments.
Haiti, Portugal, and Panama qualified through intercontinental playoffs in February. Eight countries will make their World Cup debuts at this tournament.
Below is the 2023 tournament groups:
Group A: New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Switzerland.
Group B: Australia, Ireland, Nigeria, Canada.
Group C: Spain, Costa Rica, Zambia, Japan.
Group D: England, Haiti, Denmark, China.
Group E: United States, Vietnam, the Netherlands, Portugal.
Group F: France, Jamaica, Brazil, Panama.
Group G: Sweden, South Africa, Italy, Argentina.
Group H: Germany, South Korea, Colombia, Morocco.
The U.S. women’s national team is the defending champion and the No. 1 team in FIFA’s global rankings. Still, England is another popular pick after winning this past summer’s European Championship for the first time.
Sweden, the silver medalist at the 2020 Olympics; France, a three-time quarterfinalist; Brazil, a seven-time Copa América Femenina winner; and Germany, a two-time world champion, are also likely to contend.
The United States won the 2019 Women’s World Cup, beating the Netherlands, 2-0, in France, becoming four-time champs.
During the group matches, teams can earn three points per win, one point for a draw, and zero for a loss. The two teams with the most points in each group advance to the Round of 16. If two or more teams are tied on points at the end of the three matches, that advance will be decided by FIFA’s tiebreaking rules.
Although 32 teams will lower the U.S. chances to win this year’s World Cup, we have the famous Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe to help us succeed.
